Beyond Land and Sea
by Panwei
Summary: Well. Out of everything he would have thought could happen, it certainly wasn't this. Seriously, who would have thought there was an interdimensional one-way portal in the wilderness? Worries aside, exploration awaits! Semi SI/shiny!Ditto [on hold until... uh, who knows?]
1. Prologue

I do not own Naruto, nor do I own Pokémon.

* * *

For an artificially created being, Ditto often wondered what the future had in store for him.

However, traveling into a new, unknown dimension was unexpected.

.

While Ditto knew his color palette was rather brilliant compared to his counterparts, he wasn't all that impressed with the odd looks he would get and the few whispers about a defective hatchling. His peculiar coloring would often drag him into inconvenient situations, encountering enthusiastic trainers being the main one.

To solve a great part of his problems, the shapeshifter would, quite literally, hide in plain sight. Using his species' main ability to his advantage, he would transform into commonly seen objects, like a pebble, when he would sense a human passing by. It was, after all, a very common and simple tactic used by most Ditto.

This brings us to our current situation, with Ditto disguised as a tree sapling, being closely examined by someone with quite a peculiar hairdo.

It's… unnerving, to say the least. Having a face shoved right in front of you, mere centimeters separating both of you from touching is more than just unsettling.

"Come on, Colress. We don't have all day, and we were supposed to meet the others at noon," a soldier standing beside the man huffed out.

"We can spare a few minutes, Britney. The fact that a rare breed of tree, also endangered, grew in such a forest is a great discovery! Never mind that they supposedly only grow in secluded places in Kanto! Go fetch me a shovel, will you? I'll have to go analyse this little one in my lab!" a man with glasses ranted excitedly to his companion.

 _Rare, my ass,_ Ditto thought to himself, _they just aren't looking at the right places. Thousands of these varieties of tree grow around Kabutops' hideout. Give them the right conditions, and they'll start spreading like a wildfire._

His associate simply sighed and whipped out a shovel from Arceus-knows-where and began digging out the sapling before depositing it in a jar.

Meanwhile, our blob morphed into a plant desperately wished that a miracle would happen to get him out of this situation. He did not want to know what his lab was like, what the man's intention were, and certainly did not want to reveal his identity to the… _eccentric_ man.

The scientist hummed cheerfully to himself, content with his new discovery. Walking back to their original path they were supposed to take, his jovial mood was interrupted by a low growl.

Both Colress and Britney whipped out each a Pokéball, prepared to engage into a fight with the newly arrived guest. However, before any of the two could send out their respective Pokémon, a beast clad in darkness rushed up towards the one in glasses and snatched out the jar out of his hands.

"Wait! _Not the specimen!_ Britney! We'll follow it!" the man all but shouted out, keen on getting back what he lost.

Regrettably for our dear scientist, the creature already took off ahead and was quickly out of sight.

Back to our little blue blob—well, sapling in a jar—he was currently being carried by the now dubbed 'Shadow Buddy' to Arceus-knows-where. Carried by our Shadow chap deeper and deeper into the forest, the sight two oddballs quickly flashed away, leaving only vegetation in view. Shadow Buddy was surprisingly quiet as it flitted across the terrain, not even making a sound when stepping down or even when breathing. Enjoying the nice breeze that the unknown savior's dash was providing, he peered around curiously, taking in the scenery.

Without Ditto ever realizing, they somehow traveled to a different region, but the landscape remained similar. Now approaching a rocky terrain ( _When did we even get here? Last time I checked, we were still in wooded area.)_ , Ditto wondered how he could thank this fellow for getting out of that sticky situation.

"Ah, Shadow Bud-"

Before he could finish expressing his gratitude, the beast's grip on him loosened and Ditto fell out of its grasp. He swore he heard a distorted shriek in the distance, before promptly being knocked out of consciousness.

* * *

 **Well, here you go. My first attempt at writing a fanfiction.**

 **This story was inspired by the fanfiction _'Clearing Mist'_** **by shadownumera** , **it's pretty neat and you could check it out when you have the time!**


	2. Beginnings 1

I do not own Naruto, nor do I own Pokémon.

* * *

 _Ditto_

Ditto awoke in somewhere dark. The type where one couldn't discern anything, not even the ground, so subjects would tend to stumble around, and occasionally tripping on nothing and fall face first on the floor. Except he couldn't feel the floor. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't feel anything at all. Similar to floating in water, but with much less resistance. Trying to feel around, he tossed and turned and lashed out at all directions, but results were null. Nothing around him, and he wasn't even sure he was moving.

He tried using different strategies to try to discern where he was. Transforming into various electric types to use Flash in an attempt to illuminate the place, morphing into a Dragonite and use Hyper Beam, to see if any destruction would be caused. Taking the form of an Arcanine and kicking off in a mad dash, to see if there were any bounds to this place, shaping himself as various avian Pokémon to find out if he was in a closed space. Much to his displeasure, none of them bore any significant results.

( _What the hell is with this place? It's just as if nothing existed… No walls, no ground, no ceiling, no sky, no gravity, no nothing! How is this even possible?)_

Finally resigning to trying to find an escape for now, he breathed out a heavy sigh, accepting that he may or may not be stuck here for an indefinite amount of time. Digging around his memories to find what exactly he did to receive this kind of fate ( _If fate even exists,_ he thought idly.), he leisurely scanned the obscurity to see if there would be anything that would change. Bearing no matching results, he shifted his search for something more entertaining.

Running through his most vivid memories, he started wondering if he ever had a friend that could be classified as 'normal'. An Arceus-knows-how-old Kabutops that hadn't seen the light of the day since a few decades ( _How come the Old Fossil gets so much information as a hermit?)_ , a hyperactive Espeon who loved the thrill of battle ( _She'll beat you to a bloody pulp if you ever provoke her)_ and a Zweilous who literally rips everything they come across to shreds ( _Would they classify as twins? The world may never know)_.

While he was contemplating his life, a low grumbling was heard, and the space around started to shift and rip itself apart. Something started pulling Ditto towards the distorting vortex, and out of instinct, he started struggling against the force. The force, having a stronger pull, just flung him into the spiraling abyss, absorbing the blue slime-like mass.

And then…

 _Plop._

 _(Just like the feeling of getting spat out of someone's mouth. Trust me, I know how it feels.)_

Landing with a glorious _splat_ on the ground _(You can't blame me. I was utterly confused and had no idea what was happening. Be honest, you would have done the same thing)_ , the shapeshifter slowly regained his bearings, and tried to assess his current situation.

Looking around, still somewhat in a daze, he found himself in a fogged and humid area. After completely shaking out of his confusion, he would have concluded that he possibly was in Foggy Forest _(Who even came up with these names?)_ , but the absolute silence would say otherwise. He examined the landscape once more, trying to find any clue to where he was, but he would always come back to the same conclusion: he was utterly lost, likely in a foreign land. Ditto looked around once more, and realized that there was a significant dearth of Pokémon. There was not even a trace of the most common ones, there was just nothing.

Ditto perked up at the sound of several successive hits against wooden material _(…How can I hear without ears? Or talk without vocal cords? Or even think without a brain? Ah, the mysteries of life)_ , indicating the possibility of life forms. Transforming into a Taillow, he flew up into the sky, high enough to not directly attract any attention, but low enough to be able to discern the ground, and headed towards where he heard the noises. Not only was the form small and nimble, but the colors wouldn't stand out too much in the current environment as well.

Arriving at the source of the sound, he spotted two persons battling each other with what appeared to be wooden swords _(I think they're called 'bokken' or something, I'm not sure)_? He had never seen anyone wield one of this model; he only saw them in museums, behind glass panes. He also never saw humans battle so ferociously. These kinds of fights would often occur amongst Pokémon, but never has he seen with humans. Still, they were mesmerizing _(For me, at least. Don't know for you)_. Every move was fluid, yet forceful and vicious, although some of the movements were clumsy and missed its marks. There was no hesitation in each strike, only sheer passion and will.

Suddenly, one of the combatants stilled _(Whoa, is his skin blue?)_ and gazed up towards the general area of Ditto's flight. His opponent _(What did he eat to get so tall?)_ , clearly seeing the opening, dove in for a strike. Realizing his mistake in the nick of time, he brought up his blade to block the one that nearly sent him skidding across the ground, gritting his teeth, not letting the other one overpower him. Sensing a moment of weakness in his lanky adversary's _(I dub thee Stickdude!)_ stance, he pushed on his blade abruptly with a lot more force, destabilizing him. The blue skinned one _(You shall be bestowed the nickname of 'Big Blue'!)_ then pinned him down, his own blade on Stickdude's throat. A third man then entered the clearing _(Holy hell, I didn't even notice him!)_ announcing the combat's end.

"That's enough for today, you two. Kisame, out of all people, you should know to never let your guard down during a fight," the third man said.

Big Blue simply nodded and replied with a curt ' _Hai, shishou'_ before getting off of Stickdude to let him stand up by himself.

Kisame and his sparring partner followed said man back to wherever they came from, but not before looking back to where he heard the slight rustling of leaves.

 _'There shouldn't be anyone or any wildlife around these parts..._

' _I must have just imagined it.'_

* * *

 **First official chapter of the story! What do you guys think?**

 **Any reviews are greatly appreciated!**


	3. Beginnings 2

I do not own Naruto nor do I own Pokémon.

* * *

 _Ditto_

While Kisame was mulling over what he had exactly seen during his last spar, Ditto was having the time of his life.

He would have been fretting over the lack of Pokémon in the area or finding a way back to where he came from, but there were just _so many new things to discover._

New weapons, new attacks _(I now have a theory that at least a half of the humans here are Pokémon hybrids)_ , new faces, weird people with sharp teeth, even more people with odd-colored hair , there were just so many discoveries to document on _(Being a Ditto gives you a heck of a memory. You could compare it to a giant notebook, where you jot down every single thing you see, hear, smell, taste and touch)_!

While Ditto still didn't have enough data to perfectly copy those humans _(Are they water types or something?)_ with the proper moveset, he sure did get the hang of shifting into various different weapons. From curve bladed swords to short knife thingies to bigger-than-normal needles _(I REALLY should learn their names. Always having to hover out of the humans' hearing range isn't helping.)_ , he was certainly enjoying his stay, and aside from the few occasional moments of being spotted by some humans, children and adults alike _(I really should be more careful. I'm getting a bit sloppy with this)_.

 _(Funny thing about my shifting ability, I'm able to replicate an object or being with near perfection once seeing it enough in battle, including minute details and parts hidden under any form of cloth, sheath or things like those. If I don't see it in action, my transformation would probably have major flaws. Never understood that weirdness of it, and probably never will.)_

Ditto flitted from location to location, while still staying in the same region. He told himself that he would learn its name someday, but he was still busy recording and analysing every single weapon he came across. The shapeshifter could easily sneak past merchants and civilians, but he had a harder time with the ones clad in battle gear _(I think? They have really weird clothes. Then again, this is probably a whole new region, so hey, I shouldn't judge.)_. It didn't happen that often around the younger ones, but most of the adults could somehow detect his presence when he wandered close by. A few even tried charging at him to attack. Certainly not his best moments, and transforming into a Diglett helped him get out of trouble more than once.

When not spying or listening to gossips _(Mind you, it is called information gathering –_ _ **Oh shush, I was on a good roll. Writing stuff like this isn't that easy, you'll have to know**_ _)_ , he could be seen _(Well, only you can. Not the others. Because you're a cheater and the rules of the universe doesn't apply to you.)_ either honing his newly acquired forms or stealing books and scrolls to read them _(…Still trying to grasp the concept of chakra here… Apparently, according to those principles, I should also have chakra)_. While he was unable to access the higher floors of one of the library he found in a village _(And I could've gotten away with it, if not for those those pesky guards!)_ , he still had enough resources to learn his location _(It actually didn't help me at all. Where the hell is this 'Land of Water' in comparison to Kanto?)_ , the name of some of the weapons _(At least it's better than nothing)_ and that this place is probably under some military dictatorship or something. If all the 'Great Mizukage this, Great Mizukagethat' is anything to go by.

So in conclusion: they have pretty wicked weapons here, people from this place are weird, Pokémon seem to be a foreign thing, and Ditto still has no idea where he was. Knowing the name of the place is pretty nice, but it's also pretty useless if he couldn't find a map or something. One does not simply pinpoint its exact position from only a name of a foreign place. Incidentally, most of the information was collected from various places in the village of _Kirigakure_ , the Village Hidden in the Mist _(Did I get it right? It's a weird name for a city. Town. Village. Whatever. But then again, I guess it's normal, seeing that this is a foreign place)_.

Ditto would often wander around that village _(In my opinion, it's not all that well hidden)_ , since interesting people carrying interesting stuff would often be found exiting and entering it. By the end of a few weeks, he has already mastered quite a few weapon transformations, including swords of various shapes and sizes, various polearms _(Naginatas, or something)_ , kunai _(Honestly, I think they look like spades with a sharp side hilt. They would make good gardening tools.)_ , sickles attached with chains _(SO MANY NAMES THAT I HAD TO LEARN, I DIDN'T BOTHER WITH THAT ONE YET),_ and much more.

He thought that he was out of humans' eyesight, but he never took account of all the nosy shinobi around him…

* * *

 _Some chunin I haven't given a name yet_

The rumors started a few days ago, when a chunin spotted something strange while on patrol duty. A slight chakra spike caught his attention; there should have been nobody where that spike came from. He just checked that area a few seconds ago.

' _Curse my curiosity and my job!'_

Against his better judgement, he turned around and headed for where he felt the peculiar surge. He suppressed his chakra signature and took out his senbon and slowly made his way to the source. Better safe than sorry. It's better to end up embarrassing yourself when nobody is around than having to explain how you got injured because you forgot to be careful.

' _Now wouldn't that be embarrassing,'_ the chunin thought to himself.

Now approaching a clearing, he still couldn't see anything out of ordinary. After hesitating for a bit, he decided to extend his chakra reach to sense for any possible enemies.

Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, he found no one in the vicinity.

Though…

He found a kunai lying in the middle of the expanse. Probably somehow infused with chakra, from what he was getting as feedback.

' _Now why would somebody do that? Infusing a KUNAI of all weapon with chakra, and then just lea-'_

The shinobi hadn't finished his ranting, when the kunai just _melted_ and reformed itself as a kusarigama, with its chain moving around slowly.

If he hasn't realized something was wrong with it before, he sure did by now.

Clutching his senbon tighter between his knuckles, he carefully approached the strange weapon.

Making no sounds as he wandered closer, the kusarigama suddenly stilled, as if noticing his presence.

Then, out of nowhere, it just vanished, leaving no significant trace of its presence, except for the few scratches the chain made on the ground and the still lingering chakra residue.

If it weren't for those marks, the chunin would have just convinced himself what he saw was just a fabrication of his mind.

Now... the only thing left is to report back to Mizukage-sama and hopefully not get laughed at by his peers. After all, sentient swords do exist, right?

Whispers about a ghostly weapon began circulating, starting from the chunin's close friends, and then gradually spreading out amongst the shinobi of Kirigakure. It started out just as a ghostly sighting, but as more and more shinobi witnessed the shapeshifting weapon, it soon obtained a small legend of its own, a myth of some sort. Occasionally seen around the land, but disappears once you get close. Some would dismiss it as a mirage, a result of the constant mist around the area, while others would claim that it's indeed real, that they have seen it from their own eyes.

The story rapidly spread, just like a wildfire in a dry forest, among the students of the Academy and it soon reached the ears of a young Kisame.

At first, he paid no mind to it. Progressively, he started wondering more and more about it. After all, it's not every day that someone sees a weapon that could change its form deliberately.

Sometimes he would think _'If I had managed to get it, would others start respecting me?'_ Other times, he would just dismiss it as a fantasy. He's not even a genin yet, what could he do? _'Not much'_ would often be the answer.

Maybe someone will find the legendary weapon before him. Even if he worked hard, he may not be there in time, and even if he was successful, people might still look at him in disdain. _'Life is not fair,'_ a part of his mind would whisper to him.

Somehow, defying all luck, he met said weapon a lot sooner than he ever expected to.

* * *

 _Omake:_

Somewhere in the Land of Water, Ditto is constantly sneezing, even though he's unable to catch a cold.

He's terribly confused at his current situation.

He also hopes no one spotted him.

 _(About a fifth of the patrol guards did.)_

* * *

 **Eh. Feel like I could have done better. Hope it's not too shabby.**

 **Reviews are always appreciated!**


	4. Beginnings 3

I do not own Naruto, nor do I own Pokémon

* * *

 _Ditto_

Now Ditto was getting REALLY curious.

Before, he wouldn't wander too far into that village, only restricting himself to the library.

But that was before.

Now, he has an approximate knowledge of the surrounding area, and the only place left to explore in the range would be Kirigakure itself.

He was refraining himself to go too deep inside, wary of the shinobi _(That's what they're called, right? The book said so)_ and of being discovered.

Plus, it was already hard to infiltrate the place. Guards are regularly stationed around the perimeter, so he can't get close enough without somehow alerting them of his presence.

Plan B, it is.

Morphing himself into an earthworm, Ditto burrowed into the dirt and started headed for the direction where he thought the village would be.

He would occasionally sense vibrations in the ground, indicating something or someone moving above him.

It was all going smoothly, until a single blade pierced the ground, followed by a few senbon.

' _Holy hell! Any closer, and my head would've been chopped clean off!'_

A slight rumble was felt, and the weapons were removed from the damp soil. Not daring to move yet, Ditto remained still as stone, in the same position for a few more seconds before resuming his way, a bit slower this time.

Reaching his destination _(At least, I think. It's kind of hard trying to orient yourself as a worm in the dirt)_ , he popped out of the ground and shifted into a dog _(They might not have Pokémon but holy hell, they have ANIMALS here. Guess who's going to gloat about his discoveries into Fossil Gramps' face?)_ to get a better look at his surroundings. Seeing as Pokémon do not exist here, taking shape of one would probably just attract unwanted attention.

Wandering around the village, he spotted several things which surely wouldn't fit in cities from home. Starving children being completely ignored, heavily armed _(Well, from my point of view_ ) people walking in the streets like any other people, others ganging up on weaker ones and beating them to a bloody pulp. The list could go on, but dog-Ditto already knew how it would work.

' _These behaviors are really similar to some folks from the slums… mainly with those who were located near human dumpsters and dark alleyways.'_

As he turned away to progress with his visit, he spotted a familiar figure walking in the distance. More precisely, he spotted a _blue_ familiar figure walking in the distance.

Normally, he would take a more discreet way of approach, but it seems like his current form's impulse drove him to run up to Kisame. He trotted up to the shark kid, wagging his tail and with his tongue lolling out. Dog-Ditto barked once, drawing the Big Blue's attention to himself.

* * *

 _Kisame_

Today, as always, Kisame was having a bad day.

Although, he thinks today was a little bit better.

Today, just like any other day, he got insulted for his looks. At least no one has the guts to directly confront him since the incident the other day. The student who picked on him and challenged him to a fight did not come back to attend classes for a full week.

Fights would still occasionally happen, and he would win most of them. Some of them would gang up on him, but he would still win. Pathetic, really. He was even going easy on them.

Today was slightly different. A boy with spiky brown hair, a few years younger than him, challenged him to a fight. When Kisame asked why, he didn't receive the answer he expected.

"Because you're strong," he responded. "If I can beat you in a fight, then I'm stronger than you."

Nothing about his strange appearance was mentioned. Those were the only words traded between them that day. He won, as he predicted, but the boy also put up more of a fight than he first anticipated.

The next day, he met that boy again. Zabuza Momochi, he said his name was. From then, he would meet him almost every day after classes at the field just next to the Academy to spar. He would normally still win, but the kid is making progress. Just like Kisame, Zabuza also practices kenjutsu. Said that one day, he wants to be part of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.

The kid has a lot of potential, and he keeps on coming back every day, same time, same place.

"You'll see, one day I'll be stronger than you. I bet I can even achieve chunin before you."

Kisame snorted at that.

He still has a long way to go if he even wants to win a kenjutsu spar with him. Now he's striving to become chunin before him? The kid's a funny one.

Though Kisame thinks that's what he likes about Zabuza.

The younger one is brash and speaks his mind. No use beating around the bushes, he goes straight to the point if he has anything to say.

(Zabuza also takes everything literally. Kisame thinks he's the type whom metaphors would completely sail over their head.)

Right now, Kisame is heading back home. Just after sparring with Zabuza, he directly goes to Fuguki for his training sessions. It's about the same routine every day. Academy classes, sparring with Zabuza, training with his shishou.

So at this moment, he's just plain out _exhausted_. Never mind the whispers around him or the occasional taunt thrown at him, he just wants to flop down on his bed and rest.

As he strolls, he starts to contemplate the idea of getting into the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist before Zabuza does. After all, he's training under one, while Zabuza isn't. Yet another thing he could rub in the kid's face, he thinks.

Deep in his thoughts, he hasn't noticed a little gray dog trot up to him until it barked once. Looking down, he saw the dog wagging its tail with a happy look on its face. At least dogs don't hate him. Yet.

"Don't you have anything better to do than to bother someone, little guy?"

Internally, he smacked himself on the head. Of course a dog wouldn't be able to understand him, it's just an animal! He could thank kami there weren't other people watching, it sure would save him from an embarrassing moment.

But when did he even befriend a dog? He actually doesn't recall meeting one at all. Maybe it's hungry? Or is it lonely? Should he try feeding it? Kisame has no idea how to deal with dogs. Maybe he could ask shishou. He should know, right?

And while Kisame was having his internal monologue, the little canine still continued to stare at him, tongue out and tail still slightly wagging, as if it was waiting for the shark-like boy to do something.

Kisame stared back, his mental monologue still continuing.

"You know what?" he said, breathing out a tired sigh, "You can follow me back home, and maybe I'll give you some food."

Finally arriving at his destination, Kisame unlocked his door and let the dog in. Not bothering to actually find some food for the puppy, he promptly dropped on his couch and started dozing off, with the little canine still watching him.

* * *

 _Ditto_

Big Blue just started sleeping.

And he didn't even feed Ditto yet.

 _Great._

Dog-Ditto was really looking forward to tasting the food here. He doesn't need to eat, but he enjoys tasting different flavors. Maybe he could find the kitchen and raid his fridge? But that would be rude. A guest does not simply loot the host's food stash without their consent.

He found himself continuing to stare up at the said host. Ditto wonders if those gills on his face were functional. He also wonders if somewhere in his family, somebody actually had a relationship with an actual fish _(You know what would be cool? A faceoff between a whale, a shark and a killer whale. That would definitely define who's the ruler of the ancient seas once and for all.)_.

Big Blue seems like a nice guy. Maybe a little wary of about everyone, but that's pretty much justified by his looks. A jerk would have just kicked him out of their way when he came up to them.

Speaking of which, dog-Ditto still isn't used to this body yet. Sometimes, he would get extremely excited at random intervals, and other times, he would find himself having the urge to chase a moving target and rip it to shreds.

Currently, he's starting to get bored at watching the blue-skinned human sleep _(I don't think sleeping on your couch would be that good for your back, Big Blue)_.

Perhaps he could also take a nap.

Yeah, a little bit of rest sounds good.

* * *

 **So this concludes our third chapter! And yeah, I kind of write slowly. Sorry 'bout that.**

 **Anyways, reviews are always appreciated!**


	5. Beginnings 4

I do not own Naruto, nor do I own Pokémon.

* * *

 _Kisame_

"Why do you have a mutt trailing after you?"

Since they didn't have classes on Sundays and shishou is out on a mission, he decided to train with the kid today. The pup just decided to follow him along. Now that he thinks about it, people do take their dogs out on walks, right?

…Did he just consider keeping the dog?

Maybe he could train it to assist him in battle or something.

"We don't know anything about dogs."

Was he talking out loud just then?

Zabuza gave him a passive stare, as if urging him to just get on with their spar.

Apparently so.

"Maybe we could ask shishou if he knows anything about this," Kisame replied.

His kouhai continued staring at him, still waiting.

"Yeah, we should probably start," the blue-skinned individual then turned towards his newly acquired companion. "And you should go stand on the side," a grin then formed on his face, "unless you want to end up in mincemeat."

Seemingly understanding his words, the grey fuzzball ambled to a safer distance, where the two combatants wouldn't accidently hit it.

Now that he wondered, was the pup a male of female? If he would ever want to name it, he should find out its gender first.

But there's no use thinking of such things right now, as Zabuza readies and launches himself towards Kisame, bokken in hand.

They might not have access to the real deal yet, but wooden weapon can still get the job done if used correctly. And it _hurts_ when you successfully land a good hit.

And so, the spar commenced.

* * *

 _Ditto_

This was the second time Ditto watched a fight so close. Both of the times, Big Blue was involved in them. Both of the times, Ditto was in a transformed state. The first fight was quite interesting, so he bet this one'll be too.

Also, swordfights are REALLY cool.

They also go by extremely fast.

Wooden blades clashing, the two were relentless in their attacks. At first, both of them were battling on equal grounds, but as the spar progressed, Big Blue seemed to slowly gain the upper hand on the Eternal Frownface _(From my perspective, he looks like those guys who rarely display any emotions. That name suits him, even if he's not frowning. And he doesn't even have any eyebrows. Though I guess I shouldn't be so quick to judge. After all, don't we have a saying that goes by 'Do not judge a book by its cover'?)_.

Their duel lasted for a good few minutes, before ending with Big Blue poised over Eternal Frownface, blade over throat. The two of them weren't even tired, with mister Frownface slightly out of breath.

"Dead," the shark kid announced, grinning victoriously. "Looks like I win again, kiddo."

Said kid only grunted in response, letting the victor stand up from his hovering position, before getting off the ground himself.

Dog-Ditto's eyes were sparkling in awe, amazed by their display. These were only children, yet they have already surpassed most of the humans back home in terms of strength. Now, the shapeshifter started wondering what a full-scale battle would look like, between two adult shinobi, since this was only a spar.

 _(This begs the question; exactly how far are our worlds apart?)_

They continued in the same fashion for a good hour, maybe two. Ditto has long lost track of time, enthralled with their blows and parries, watching the movements intently. The numerous matches continued, with Big Blue as the winner in most of them.

By noon _(Well, I think it's around noon or so)_ , they both were panting heavily. Big Blue and Frownface momentarily stilled, and looked towards the dog lookalike. Was he making a weird face? Or maybe he was just intensely staring at them and it was unnerving.

"Oi! Fuzzball! Come over here!" the blue-skinned boy shouted.

Ditto took this as his cue and hurried to Big Blue's side.

* * *

 _Kisame_

The two youngsters were currently muttering between themselves, vaguely knowing that dogs were supposed to have a good sense of hearing.

"The mutt is looking at us weirdly."

"I think the pup is interested in our spar or something."

"Does it understand us when we're speaking?"

"I don't know."

"Can it retrieve weapons?

"I don't know."

"Can it track anything by smell?"

"I. Don't. Know." Didn't he already tell Zabuza he just encountered the canine the day before?

"Does it know how to fight?"

"Look, kiddo. I just found it yesterday, so don't expect me to know everything about pup!" Kisame whisper-yelled.

"We could try to find out what it can do," said kid retorted in the same shushed tone.

"I guess we could," Kisame breathed out a soft sigh, and raised his voice loud enough for the grey pup to hear. "Oi! Fuzzball! Come over here!"

As it ran over to the two Academy students, Kisame thought contemplated on what they should do with the pup before settling down with a few tricks. The shark-like kid just hopes it'll understand what he'll be saying. It should, since it understood his previous statement, right?

"Well, kiddo, now's the time to see if the fuzzball can do those things you mentioned," the older kid picked up his bokken, and flung it with enough force for it to sail a dozen meters away.

Turning to said fuzzball, he told it to go retrieve his wooden sword back. The small dog looked at him for a moment, before dashing towards where it saw the bokken last. It came back a few seconds later, the item in its jaw. The pup then dropped the wooden practise blade at Kisame's feet, tail wagging around excitedly. This is a normal dog behavior, he presumes.

"I guess that answers two of our questions," he said, to which the kid replied with only a grunt. Zabuza isn't very expressive, isn't he?

"Now there's still the question of 'Can it track by smell?' left to answer. The only thing is… I can't really think about something to try. Any ideas?" Lo and behold, his kouhai actually responded to his question using words!

"We could use these," he said, unravelling the bandages wound around his forearms.

Zabuza then shoved the bandages in the pup's face, making it back up a little with a confused face. He would too, if someone thrusted sweaty bandages right in front of his nose.

"Mutt, you better remember this smell, because you'll have to find these after," the younger one said, before turning away and walking towards the slightly tree-laden area surrounding the clearing.

A few moments later, he came back, bare-handed. "Go search," he ordered, to which the fuzzball turned its snout up, as if trying to catch a trail of the odor. It slowly made its way to the bushes, and then disappeared into the greenery.

"Is the mutt going to be able to find the bandages?"

"Kiddo, didn't I already tell you I didn't know?"

Silence and anticipation reigned in the atmosphere, and the pup popped out of the bushes a few minute later, victorious and target firmly clenched in its between its teeth.

The three spent the rest of the time training, alternating between sparring, precision throwing and exercises with the pup. They repeated the same routine, day after day.

And so, that's how, slowly but surely, the duo became a trio.

* * *

 _Omake:_

When Big Blue and Frowface decided to try a few tricks with dog-Ditto, the 'fetch' part and the 'go find that smell' part wasn't unexpected. After all, he has seen some humans play similarly with their Poochyena or Lillipup.

What he had not expected was getting a foul odor shoved directly in front of him. This form has a sensitive nose, Arceus damnit!

Thus, Frownface has been promoted to Jerkface.

* * *

 **And here we go! Fourth chapter up! The next few updates might come a bit slower since I have a big project going on. Yeah, sorry.**

 **Reviews are always appreciated!**

 **Also, I made some minor changes to the previous chapters to make the POV switches clearer.**


	6. Beginnings 5

I do not own Naruto, nor do I own Pokémon.

* * *

 _Ditto_

Over the next few months, nothing especially eventful happened to dog-Ditto, though he does enjoy the recent peacefulness. The routine would repeat itself; Ditto would wait outside the Academy for Big Blue and Jerkface, and the trio would train together after classes. The two Academy students took some time to warm up to him, but it happened. They slowly became, _dare he say_ , akin to close friends, but maybe it's just because dogs were too trusting. Maybe.

From what he saw, adults and children weren't very fond of his two newly acquired friends. There was a blatant disrespect against them, with insults and a few distasteful look thrown at them, though most would just shy away from the two. Why it is that way, Ditto didn't quite understand. It's not like if Big Blue was that– okay, maybe his looks were a bit intimidating, but why be so scornful about it? And there was also Zabuza, the kid who was a few years younger than Big Blue. Was it the aura _(What the hell is with it? Never mind that_ _Lucario's and psychic types are the only ones supposed to sense auras)_ of uneasiness radiating off of him _(I might just start calling it miasma. Seriously, it sometimes become really suffocating)_? Or was it just that he was naturally scary-looking, topped with his almost non-existent social skills?

Oh well.

The most he could do right now would be to cheer them up during training.

Speaking of training…

Ditto got accustomed to this body rather quickly, now being able to dodge incoming projectiles (as long as they weren't thrown in masses) and being able to recognize and follow many scents _(To be fair, I have already had experience in those fields in similar bodies. Also, I can locate who farted in a classroom)_.

Big Blue usually had classes from morning until afternoon _(Never really bothered to learn the exact time, it doesn't matter that much as long as we're able to meet up every day around the same time)_ , so dog-Ditto would either wander around the village or try to improve his tracking skills.

Lately, he was getting bored with exploring the village. He has mapped and memorized most of Kiri's layout, with the occasional spots he missed _(Not my fault if those dog-haters were there. I could try to run past them, but I'd rather not risk it)_. The library wouldn't let animals in, so that's one less thing he could do _(Again, rather not risk dropping my disguise and get caught)_.

Tracking could be fun, as long as there was something interesting to track. Which, outside of training with the boys, did not come up often. So that's another thing off the list.

This leads us back to the present, with dog-Ditto amusing himself with a new exercise he discovered. He would stand still in one spot, and pump chakra _(At least I think it's chakra. Still not sure how that stuff works)_ towards his feet, then to the ground. Like that, he would be able to feel every being in contact with the ground, save for inanimate objects. He would entertain himself endlessly, feeling the walking pattern of certain people, discerning if they were walking, running, skipping, etc. He would sense from the cat rummaging through the waste to the shinobi walking across the streets. Every single one felt different, although some were quite similar. Maybe they're related through blood? He would also sometime wonder if it would be considered as a breach of privacy.

 _(At least I'm not actively stalking them, right? Right.)_

He has been able to extend his range to a dozen meters maximum in radius, but is still practising to expand his limit. Not much progress there, though. Maybe he was doing something wrong?

Talking about sensing, dog-Ditto's tail was already wagging in anticipation, feeling a massive pattern approaching the Assembly Field _(I know, I give bad corny names, NO NEED TO RUB IT IN MY FACE)_ , the clearing where they would always train after classes. Big Blue's presence was quite distinctive; it was immense, despite him still being a kid, it could easily drown out the ones surrounding him _(_ _ **Do you get it? Drown? Water release and Kisame?**_ _– What? –_ _ ***Sigh***_ _)_.

Big Blue and Jerkface… they're pretty nice. Even if they're rough at times and their training methods are a little dubious _(At least they now know it's not a good idea to strap a bunch of senbon on a dog)_ , they've become two individuals Ditto came to befriend. Or maybe it was just because he was a dog. Who know? _( **Arceus probably does.** )_

Should he reveal to them who he was? It could go awfully badly. Then again… Kisame and Zabuza are friends. And friends are supposed to trust each other. Yeah, he believes he could do this. But what w–

"Oh hey, Fuzzball," Big Blue came walking in, cutting off his train of thoughts, "class finished early for us, so the kid will be joining us later."

' _I guess it'll have to wait for later. Distraction time!'_

* * *

 _Kisame_

The Fuzzball (Kisame decided to nickname the pup) was spacing out a lot more than usual, Kisame remarked. They (still hasn't checked for the gender, and he felt bad for calling his partner an 'it') would react slower than usual, sometimes staring at nothing in particular. Was there something on their mind? Can dogs even think the same way humans do? Can they even have complicated thoughts? Maybe he'll ask shishou later, if he remembers.

Maybe the pup's hungry. Kisame hadn't fed them since yesterday morning, so that could be the cause.

Since the kid still wasn't here, he couldn't do much part from a few chakra exercises, weapon throwing (still preferred sword over anything) or training the dog. After going through a few stretches and a few katas, Kisame decided to check how much slower the Fuzzball was compared to any other days. Choosing a fairly easy exercise, one that they normally would have no trouble with, he took out a shuriken and threw it so it lodged into a tree not too far away. He turned towards the pup to see if they would go after his shuriken.

The pup wasn't even facing the right way.

Breathing out a sigh, he raised his voice. "Oi! Fuzzball," at their name, the dog only turned their head (where was the ball of energy he was used to see?), "retrieve!"

The Fuzzball blinked a few times, before skittering, more sluggishly that normal, to go fetch the shuriken embedded in the tree trunk. Just as they came back carrying Kisame's shuriken, Zabuza decided to make himself known by stepping in the field, jabbing his bokken into the ground.

"Right. We won't be able to spar for too long today, I have to catch up on some training I missed with Fuguki-shishou."

As per usual, they both readied themselves soundlessly, and the Fuzzball trotted to the sidelines to watch the battle.

A spar sounded pretty good now to get those dog-related questions out of his head.

* * *

 _Ditto_

Just as Big Blue said, their daily training ended a bit more early than normally. That didn't matter much for Ditto, as he spent his time spacing out and pondering about his little dilemma.

' _Well… we're kinda like friends now, right? And friends should be able to trust each other without the fear of having him divulge a secret.'_

He looked at the two Academy students, sprawled across the ground and panting heavily.

' _Yeah,_ Ditto thought to himself, _I'm going to do this.'_

After a few moments, they both stood up _(Nice synchronization!)_ and Jerkface slowly walked away, probably back home, while Big Blue headed towards Ditto.

"Fuzzball! So it'll just be like always; I'll stay here for a while, and you'll go back. We'll meet up in the house, okay?"

To Big Blue's question, dog-Ditto barked once and returned home _(Home… such a lovely word, don't you think?)_ , just as usual. And just as usual, the big guy would come to the field after Ditto and Jerkface would leave it. Dog-Ditto didn't need to turn around and see the guy to notice him; he got accustomed to the slight melon scent _(Such an intimidating person, smelling like fruits!)_ he would emanate.

Dog-Ditto would take the back roads, trying to be inconspicuous and all. After all, he can't take on the roofs, and he quickly rejected the idea of taking the main street. Last time he did, he got harassed by a few children _(Man, that was not cool at all)_.

Arriving at the destination a few minutes later, Ditto entered the house through a trapdoor _(Made specially for me! Big Blue's such a nice guy)_ from the back.

There, he just lay on the ground, contemplating on how he could break the news of what he was. Should he just straight up tell him? Did he even remember how to speak Japanese?

' _I hope I do. After all, wasn't it the first human language I learned? It would be embarrassing if I did forget.'_

* * *

As Ditto was still deep in his thoughts, the front door opened and an exhausted Big Blue came walking in. _(Did he come earlier than normal, or was it just me losing track of time?)_

"Fuzzba ‑"

"Actually, I also go by another name," Ditto blurted out, not having thought too much about how he was going to aboard his issue.

"You can talk?"

Ditto just nodded slowly, not having much else to say at the moment.

"I think I'll just deal with this tomorrow." With that, Big Blue shuffled to his room, and closed the door.

' _Well, that certainly was one way to deal with it.'_

* * *

 **I'm really sorry I couldn't get this chapter out sooner. I had some matters to attend to, so I didn't have enough time to finish this. Again, terribly sorry for the delay!**

 **That being said, chapter 5 is now out, and Ditto is now (partially) unmasked!**

 **And I decided to reply to the scarce reviews this story has!**

 _annieleileileei:_ Thanks! I try with the ' _good work_ ' part, but I'm not doing so great with the ' _keep up_ '... Hehe.

 _Guest:_ I try to do my best!

 **Reviews are always appreciated.**


	7. Re: Beginnings

I do not own Naruto, nor do I own Pokémon.

* * *

 _Ditto_

It's Saturday daybreak _(Well, I think. Kind of hard to keep track of time here. Fortunately, Big Blue has a worn calendar pinned up on a wall)_ , and Ditto still has a few hours to whip up a clear explanation for his current situation. A few hours and Big Blue will wake up, probably get mad at Ditto, maybe kick him out, and maybe report him to higher authorities if he's absolutely pissed, or (hopefully) just accept the situation. The shapeshifter dearly hope it's the latter. He highly values his freedom, and still is still determined to explore this… region? country? nation? …Something like that.

Back to the situation at hand (paw?), time was running out _(Why does Big Blue even wake up so early on weekend?)_ and… oh, would you look at that. He's already starting to wake up _(I'm making slow progress with this sensing stuff. Slow, but still making progress!)_ , and Ditto was still a nervous wreck.

Time seemed to trickle down slower and slower, and after a few minutes _(It felt like HOURS_ – _**Stress is weird, I'm telling you**_ _)_ , he finally felt Big Blue coming to the kitchen.

' _And here goes nothing…'_ Ditto thought, as he braced himself for his next words.

"So, slept well? I've been waiting for a bit."

' _It sounded a lot less like I was an evil cliché villain in my head.'_

* * *

 _Kisame_

Kisame awoke early, just as usual. It was still early and he didn't have classes today, so he'll probably just train the day away with the kid (doesn't he do that every weekend?). He had something nagging in the back of his mind, like he has just forgotten about something terribly important. Maybe he'll recall it after breakfast.

He walked towards the kitchen, and saw the Fuzzball already awake, staring at the floor intently. On second thought, they might still be sleeping, just in an odd position. Kisame won't judge.

"So, slept well? I've been waiting for a bit."

Kisame, still being the half-asleep kid he was, just continued heading to the kitchen. The words only registered seconds later, and he whirled around to face the owner of the voice.

The Fu-

Yesterdays' event came back to him, and of course, the first sentence that came out of his mouth voiced out his newfound suspicion for them.

"Who sent you?" he asked, eyes narrowing.

The pup (were they even a dog?) looked taken back at this statement, blinking a few times, before uttering a little 'eh?' and giving him a confusing look.

"I said, 'Who sent you?'. No one approaches me just to be friends with. Perhaps you're a spy?" Kisame asked, careful to keep his voice cold. Having an intimidating build does have its advantages. Especially when you need to get answers out of someone.

"I think you're misunderstanding…?" they replied, still having a slightly puzzled expression, but then looked like they came to realize something obvious. "Yeah! You're misunderstanding the situation completely!"

Kisame simply raised an eyebrow, showing his skepticism to that statement.

"First of all, who would actually hire a do–I'm actually not a dog–to go infiltrate or spy someone? Unless it's actually a thing here. And two, I just happened to stumble upon one of your spars a few days prior to when we officially met, and I was like ' _whoa, that's so cool_ ', so, uh, here I am. And also, you seemed like a really nice guy when we first encountered face to face," they quickly blurted out.

"Oh, and I can also do this!" the _thing_ having the body of a pup said.

Then the strangest thing (which doesn't mean much, since he's still a child. But then again, _Kirigakure_ ) happened; the little figure in front of him _melted_ into a bluish puddle, then swiftly reformed themself into a katana. After staying idle for a few seconds, they melted back to… a blue blob with two eyes and a mouth?

"Pretty neat, don't you think? And I'm also a traveller, if you wanted to know." The words completely flew past Kisame's head, as he was preoccupied with another thought.

Now why does this feel so familiar?

 _(…a weapon that could change its form deliberately.)_

So it wasn't just a rumor. But if that was so…

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" he asked, still trying to keep calm.

"Well…" there, the blue blob averted their gaze, looking slightly guilty.

"Well?"

"I… Just… just think about it for a moment, will you? Back then, I just met you, and didn't trust you. People talk, rumours spread fast. Trust is hard to gain, as you probably know. And, well, over the months, you've kinda… became something like a friend to me?

"…Yeah, just like a friend. So you see, I'm telling you this now because I trust you. And just another thing to think about: what would you have done in my position?"

Kisame closed his eyes, considering their explanation and contemplating his choices.

"It doesn't seem that you're lying, but… I guess I still need some time to think about it. As for now, are you up for some training? To just relieve some tension," he finished, with a more relaxed tone.

The pup brightened considerably at that, and both of them set off for their daily training with the kid. After breakfast, of course.

' _I still don't know their gender,'_ he realized. _'I should ask them when we come back.'_

* * *

 _Zabuza_

Kisame and the mutt were late today. They're normally both punctual, so the two of them must be caught up in something important. That, or they couldn't find what to eat during the morning. Zabuza occasionally comes late for classes because he had forgotten where the food was stored at.

Either way, he'll start whether Kisame is here or not, beginning with accuracy training. He would rather spar, but his training partner hasn't arrived yet.

Midway through his shuriken throwing, he remarks that the pace would have been a lot faster if the three of them were together. Kisame knows a lot more about shinobi business than him and the older Academy student would correct his stance from time to time. The mutt too, it became a lot more useful than Zabuza first expected. Not only could it track down lost items, but could actually retrieve thrown weapons swiftly after being hurled through the air, all the while dodging incoming projectiles. It was quite effective while practising kunai and senbon throwing.

' _Having it with us was a lot more useful than I thought'_

Much more useful than his classmates, that was for sure. Most of them were weak cowards, wimps with no place in the battlefield.

Kisame… Kisame is different. He was fierce in everything he did. A strong and dedicated person, fit to be a commander. To him, Kisame was–

"Hey, Zabuza! Sorry we came late!"

And there he comes, with his little scruffy dog trailing after him. They made him wait long enough.

* * *

Slash.

Block, feint, kick from under.

Thrust, disarm, pin down, blade to throat.

That was the sixth time Zabuza won against the older student. He was fairly proud of himself, being able to beat Kisame so many times in a single day. There was only one slight problem…

He knew that he wasn't going at full force. And what's even more frustrating for the younger one was that it looked like Kisame didn't even notice he wasn't going full out today.

"Kisame." His sparring partner looked awfully distracted.

"Yeah?" he answered, stealing a glance towards his dog.

"You're slower today. And your hits are less precise."

"Really? Maybe it's just that you've improved by a great deal," Kisame countered back casually.

Nonetheless, he felt contented by his victories. It was the most he had ever gotten in a single day.

Soon after that, they continued on with various other training, varying from throwing weapon training to scent tracking with the mutt. He idly remarks that it too also looks preoccupied, similar to how it was yesterday. At least the mutt was focused enough today to not get hit by any projectiles while retrieving the thrown shuriken or senbon.

Maybe something happened between the older student and his dog?

But it wasn't like it was his problem to deal with. He won't ask what it's about; Kisame would tell him if he needed help. Which he doubt he would. Kisame will know what to do.

A leader will always know what's best.

* * *

 _Ditto_

Dog-Ditto was currently a nervous wreck. Actually, he has been one the past two days. He hopes it didn't show that much, diverting his attention to other tasks, such as training _(Sensing! When I think about it, it feels like pooling out honey from the bottom of your feet. Then the feedback returns, and… it's kind of hard to explain, but just like a body of water, and you can feel ripples of different sizes)_ or entertaining himself with thoughts about Pokémon _(Does the consciousness of a Deino split into two when they evolve and does it merge back again at their second stage?)_.

Thing is, that only half worked. He would distract himself momentarily, but his mind would eventually drift back to the original problem. Those distractions has cost him a few grazes, and he almost got impaled by a few senbon a few times.

 _(I least I haven't sustained any major wounds. Should anyone else see me reverting back to my original shape, it probably would've been bad.)_

And here he is, at the end of the day, fidgeting under Big Blue's gaze back home. Ditto dearly wishes he has made the right choice in revealing himself to his friend _(Though I think this friendship is pretty one-sided right now)_.

Big Blue takes a deep breath as Ditto nervously awaits his verdict.

"I've thought for a while about our situation. As unrealistic as it sounds, it looks like you aren't lying." To that, Ditto started to look a little more hopeful.

"I'll give you one more chance to prove yourself. But if I find out that you even thought about crossing me... I'll just say that it won't go well on your side. Got it?" Big Blue finished, somehow appearing much more terrifying than normal.

"Y-Yeah," the shapeshifter replied, managing to avoid averting his gaze.

There was a beat of silence before he continued voicing his thoughts. "So that means we can be buddies now?"

"Maybe–"

"Oh, then maybe we should start with introductions. They're important to starting a friendship. At least, I think they are. They should. To get to know the other person better, you know? I've rudely interrupted you, but I'll keep going, because I fear that it would otherwise get really awkward and I would forget what I was about to say. So, I'm Ditto, but since that's a lot more of a label than a name, you could also call me Lil' Blue. A nickname I gave myself, I guess. Yeah. What about you? Also, I kinda gave you a nickname too, because I basically do that to everyone I come to acquaint myself with. It's an old habit of mine. Big Blue! Oh, now that I notice, our monikers match a bit."

Big Blue blinked once, then twice, and proceeded to process all of Ditto's rambling into more understandable thoughts.

"Uh… right. Hoshigaki Kisame. Nice to meet you, I guess."

* * *

 _Omake:_

The mutt was constantly staring at Kisame during a good few hours with a strange expression on its face. Zabuza wondered, is this what people call 'love'?

He quickly chased the thought away. He needed to keep his concentration on the ongoing battle, or else he'll definitely lose. If Kisame did end up victorious this round, he'll make sure it isn't because he was pondering about a dog's love life.

* * *

 **Another chapter out! And Ditto's secret is also out! I'll just hope that I can pick up the pace of the story from here... Since there isn't much plot going on these past chapters. Also, I'll apologize in advance if I can't get the next chapter out in time (again), because schoolwork has been piling up and I really need to finish a few projects.**

 **Anyways, if you see any mistakes or if you want to make any suggestions, you're always welcome to tell me.**

 **Reviews are always appreciated!**


	8. Progress

I do not own Naruto, nor do I own Pokémon.

* * *

 _Kisame_

"Why do you insist on calling me Big Blue?"

"Well, it's a question of habit first, as I rarely refer to my friends by their real name, and second, don't you think it fits you well? You're taller and definitely stronger than the other kids. And you're blue. Just like me!"

He groaned at the prospect of having to be called by such a ridiculous name.

After the confrontation the other day, they restarted their relationship from scratch. After a few weeks, they went from I-acknowledge-your-existence back to friendly acquaintances, to which they could easily start a conversation. Maintaining one, that was another story.

But even then, Kisame was still cautious around the Fuzz– Ditto.

Around Ditto. That was their name. He still got their name mixed up a few times since he was used to calling them 'Fuzzball'. He still calls them Fuzzball outside, but he tries to call them by their name when the two of them are alone.

Kisame also asked them to address him by his name, and not just a nickname. Ditto agreed at first, but after a few slipups from them, they just decided to call him both. Sometimes it'll be Kisame, other times it'll be Big Blue. He was uncomfortable at first with the nickname, but it settled in after a week or two. Now, it was just slightly irritating when they repeated his nickname over and over again.

He also asked about their gender.

"Hey, Ditto? Are you male or female?"

"Well…" They appeared hesitant at first, as if trying to choose the proper words. "Truthfully? Neither. I'm actually asexual, meaning I don't have a gender. I, as Ditto, don't have any reproductive organ, so it's kinda hard trying to classify myself in one gender or another. I mostly refer myself as a male to avoid confusion, but I sometimes also refer myself as a female when the body I take form of is female."

Kisame hummed, understanding their explication to a certain extent. He decided to continue identifying Ditto with 'them'. He prefers to keep it as accurate as possible. This way, no matter what shape Ditto is in, it'll be valid.

He also noticed certain things about them, like he rarely saw them sleeping, or how they could still keep running even if they haven't eaten in a few days.

"…Actually, I don't know either. Not sure how my ability truly works, I just know what it does. In my original form, I only need little food and I don't sleep. Pretty useful for travelling long distances in shorter time. I preserve those two traits even if I switch form or body, and I still don't understand how it happens. It just does. So in resume, I'm currently a dog who needs little and I don't know why."

So can Ditto produce energy by their own if they don't eat enough? Do they just absorb the moisture around and the sunlight to convert into food? He isn't sure if that would make sense, though.

Kisame still didn't understand something about their name. Already that the name itself is strange; who would name their kid 'Ditto'?

"You once said you considered your name more of a label than anything. What did you mean by that?" He was curious. Did the term 'Ditto' signify something else from where they came from?

"I meant that the name 'Ditto' wasn't unique to me. It was more of a name to design a group–I would say breed, but we can't really breed between ourselves–of Pokémon. Somehow–maybe it was tradition? –those names stuck to most individuals, so some of us just decided to give nicknames. Most still use the name of the breed, but it becomes slightly confusing when two of the same species are in the same room. It also gets confusing when one has siblings. Or when you live in a pack. But you get the general concept, right?"

"Wait a minute. What are Pokémon? Are they animals or something?"

Ditto made a face at his question, as if unsettled, before muttering something suspiciously like ' _living under a rock_ ' and _'don't have'em here_ '.

(Kisame was also half-amused and half-interested on how a dog's face could pull so many expressions.)

They breathed out a long sigh and dragged it out for a few more seconds. They looked drained for a flash, but that was quickly replaced by their usual cheerful self.

"Let's see… Pokémon are creatures that vaguely resemble various plants and animals around the world, though there are some exceptions such as me and are virtually found about everywhere from where I come from. You could find them in every corner of a region, ranging from a sealed cave to a simple dirt path." The shapeshifter looked pensive for a while and then decided to continue their explanation.

"Most Pokémon are much stronger than the average human and animal, and quite a few could easily wipe out an entire town or village, depending on your view without breaking a sweat. Nearly all of us are born form eggs and again, I'm part of the exceptions and nearly all evolve into more powerful forms throughout their lives. Some will live their time alongside humans, while others stay in the wild and occasionally get beaten up by stronger Pokémon. On other occasions, the weaker ones just get eaten. So uh… Pokémon are creatures that can become really strong if they train enough? That sounds about it. I'm also one, if you didn't know, but I don't think I'm the best example. Most would look a lot more like animals you find here, and not a pile of blue jelly, never mind that my color is wrong."

Kisame took a few moments to think about and sort out the information he has just been provided. Even if the description slightly varied, he could still compare them to something he is somewhat familiar with.

"Basically just like summon animals?" he asked, making the parallels between the two.

"What animals?" they asked, scrunching up their dog features.

" _Summon_ animals," he said, emphasizing on the word. "Basically, an animal or a group of animals whom you make a contract with. You can summon them to assist you for various tasks or combat."

"I guess…" Ditto trailed off, before continuing on again, a slight wistful look on their face, "maybe our lands have more things in common than I first thought. Ah! And before I forget, there are 16… actually, I think there are 18 Pokémon types discovered until now. The main ones are fire, water, grass and electric. There are also the others, but it'll take too much time to name them all."

' _Maybe the counterparts for our elemental affinities?'_ Kisame thought to himself.

After that, they ran off to search for some paper and something to write with. Later that day, Ditto came back, this time in their original body, holding a piece of paper with a crudely drawn table listing all the Pokémon types with their respective strengths and weaknesses. They called it a 'type chart' and said that they have often seen it in schools and libraries from where they came from.

Ditto, as he discovered, enjoyed telling tales, mostly from their innumerable travels around the regions they once lived in. He thinks that some are just too silly to be true, but they are nonetheless interesting to listen to, especially during days he comes back slightly cranky from events at the Academy. Even if they sometimes tend to spout some terms that he doesn't always understand.

"…So there was also this organization bent on world domination, which had a super grouchy multimillionaire business man as their leader. The whole region thought that the world was doomed, but then a few heroes, backed by the gym leaders, completely thwarted his plans and overthrew the evil group! I don't know what happened during the little gang of heroes' journey, but it was pretty funny seeing a bunch of kids, not even sure if they reached puberty yet, foil a carefully prepared scheme of an evil organization in not even a year. You really should have been there. I sometimes follow them, since they are basically trouble magnets running free. They also had pretty sad moments…" and they rambled on and on, never getting tired of retelling their stories.

Hearing them babble enthusiastically about them almost never failed to cheer him up, and was even relaxing after a long day.

There were also some issues that Kisame wanted to know about Ditto; namely their opinion on his appearance. After all, no matter how he thinks of himself, he's only just a kid and still remarkably self-conscious about his appearance.

"Ditto? Do you…" he stopped mid-sentence, rethinking how he should aboard the subject. "Can I ask you a question?"

"You know, you don't actually need to have permission to ask me a question, right? But yeah, you can," he replied in that laid back way of theirs.

"What did you think about me when you first met me? Did my looks unnerve you? And don't lie to me. I'll know if you do." And there was that chill again. He used the same tone as the day of their confrontation, to indicate that he wasn't messing around.

"E-eh… Honestly, I was…" they stopped for a moment, trying to find the words, "I wasn't scared by your image, if that's what you were asking. But I do admit that I was, um, slightly surprised. I've never seen a blue-skinned human before. But you're a totally cool guy! Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't find you impressive for a kid, but… Urgh. It's hard to find the right words when you want to be serious…" they faltered slightly towards the end of their sentence.

"You weren't scared of me?"

"Big Blue," they sighed, as though he was missing something obvious, "I've travelled to countless places and seen a whole lot of creepy stuff, and you're by far one of the least terrifying living beings I have encountered. That sounded insulting. I didn't want to insult you. Anyways, I've seen balloons kidnapping children, the amalgamate of over a hundred despairing soul stuffed into a rock, a soul-sucking and practically dead insect, mushrooms taking over the corpse of a Pokémon, a Pokémon that used to be human and that now carries their face around and cry every time they look at it, and the list could go on. Point made, I've seen some disturbing stuff in my life. By now, I doubt that a slightly discolored kid would scare me. Did I accidently insult you again? I swear, I didn't mean—"

The Academy student stopped listening by then. He got what he was searching for, and from the few months he spent with them, he knows that Ditto tends to chatter aimlessly once they get distracted by a minute detail.

(He wouldn't admit it, but he got a little spooked from imagining the few creatures they described.)

Days, weeks and months passed, and little by little, Kisame regrew to be comfortable around the odd blue pudding that often took the form of a little grey canine. Some things changed while others remained constant. Their training remained the same, all three of them together. That time of the day that nothing else mattered and they could just stop worrying for the time being. Of course, he still had kenjutsu practices with shishou; that also went unchanged.

And talking about changes, the new Mizukage took over recently. From the talk he heard around, their newly elected leader was ruthless and also surprisingly young. He isn't too concerned about the Mizukage's age as long as he's able to do his job.

"Hey, Ditto. Apparently, just after our new leader I think his name's Yagura went into power, he decided to change the graduation exam," he told his dog-shaped housemate as they came back from a day of training.

"Huh. The leader of this village is called a Mizukage, right? But anyways, aren't you graduating new week?" his partner inquired as they rested their head on their front legs.

"Yeah, but there's nothing to worry about too much. He probably just tweaked a few things in the exam. I have seen a few ones from the previous year and they looked rather easy, so maybe he just upped it up a notch."

"I guess we'll just have to see. Oh, and could I come with you next time? I never actually got the chance to see what the Academy looked from the inside."

"Sure thing. Just don't get caught," he said to Ditto, flashing them a row of sharp teeth. "Who knows what could happen then?"

"Don't worry about it! It'll go just fine!"

* * *

 **Hello once again, and looks like I got this chapter out just in time! It's mostly just a filler chapter and a transition to the next one with almost no plot. Ehe. Looks like you'll have to wait until next week for the action to come.**

 **Also, big thanks to ivanganev1992 for the support!**

 _ivanganev1992_ : Glad to know you like my story! I try to update every Friday, but it happens that I have to postpone updates due to school projects and exams.

 **Reviews are always appreciated!**


	9. Graduation 1

I do not own Naruto, nor do I own Pokémon.

* * *

 _Ditto_

Big Blue's graduation exam was coming up in two days. Ditto was visibly thrilled _(I'll get to see the inside of the Academy!_ — _ **I bet it's just going to be a bunch of boring classrooms**_ — _And how would YOU know?)_ , bouncing much more than usual around the house. He was practically vibrating with excitement, while also trying his best to stay in one spot _(_ _ **Which isn't working, mind you**_ — _Hey! At least I'm trying!)_.

He wondered if the exams were anything like the ones back in Kanto. He isn't sure if they still stayed the same, but the method was effective enough. At the end of the end of the last year, each student had to go against a randomly picked instructor in the school. The teachers, of course, didn't use their strongest Pokémon from their arsenal. It was a one versus one battle, the Pokémon provided to the student being a rental one. Items aside the one held by the rental were banned, and you only had one try. Win and you graduate, lose and you retake the year.

 _(It's not all that bad to retake a year. Plus, you get free potions and escape ropes!)_

There was also the written portion before the battle which only few wouldn't be able to pass _(It was probably just about status ailments, type effectiveness and improvised situations where you encounter would-be criminals who have the aim of conquering the world)_ , but Ditto didn't give too much attention to it back then _(Not my fault that watching a silent classroom scribbling down stuff on paper would be so boring)_.

One didn't need to take classes to become a Pokémon trainer, but it's useful for learning the basics, various strategies and getting a shiny certificate saying that you completed whatever course it was.

Completing the curriculum would offer you many more jobs related to Pokémon, like nurse _(It's a common misconception that only people from the Joy family work at the Pokémon center)_ , breeder, those people working at Devon corps, Gym leader, and many more.

 _(I actually have my own certificate from my time in Kanto. It should be somewhere with the old hermit in his cave.)_

Back to business, the three of them, the Jerk, Big Blue _(He apparently finds his nickname annoying. Doesn't mean I won't use it!)_ and Ditto, were currently training. Or rather, the two boys were sparring with each other while Ditto was watching from the sidelines and getting amazed by the few water jutsus being thrown around.

("When did you even learn how to use those moves?"

"You mean jutsus? Did you actually think that I only learn kenjutsu from Suikazan-shishou?")

Kisame started using them about three or four days ago and managed to rope Zabuza _(If Big Blue gets to be called by his name from time to time, than so does the Jerk. Equality is important)_ after he tried and subsequently failed to replicate Big Blue's water clone technique. From there, they started integrating jutsu practice in their training sessions.

Needless to say, it wasn't uncommon that they ended up soaked to the bone. Ditto wonders how they haven't at least caught a cold by now _(Not even a leaking nose. Are they able to regulate core their temperature or what? Ninjas and their weird chakra tricks…)_

He, being the ever curious creature he is, also tried to imitate his blue-skinned friend, only to find out that jutsus needed hand signs to achieve. Which would be currently impossible for him, given that he currently has puppy-paws with no reversible thumbs.

 _(Really sucks, you know? They get to do cool shinobi stuff and I'm stuck with sensing and tracking. I can't even abuse my transformation anymore because apparently, these shinobi have eyes just about everywhere!)_

Since then, they have also been practising with their chakra control. Question of not drowning his partner _(Or me! I was frequently used as a testee for their experimental jutsus, and man, being a wet dog sure is unpleasant)_ by accident or consuming too much chakra at once.

The duo had several chakra control exercises, but they normally stuck to water walking and attaching various objects to their fingertips. Big Blue was obviously the better one, given being the older and more experienced one.

 _(Now that I notice, Zabuza seems to tire a lot faster than Big Blue. And by that, I mean when his ripples casually descends until being almost a fourth of its original size, Kisame's is still as massive as ever. Well, almost as massive.)_

Of course, Ditto also tried water walking since it was about one of the only task he could try to do involving chakra at the time. Emphasis on _try_.

After numerous attempts and failing at it, the Jerk finally got annoyed and yanked Ditto out of the water and flung him onto the shore, saying that he was distracting him. Big Blue then suggested trying the same exercise on a solid surface.

But even with Kisame's advice, he still couldn't achieve the result he wanted. Yes, he could stick to an almost flat and perpendicular surface for a few seconds, but every time he would try to move, let's say run up, he would either bounce off that surface or make a small dent in it and losing footing afterwards _(I have to admit, it was pretty cool being able to chip off small portions of whatever I was standing on, but then again, not the result I was searching for)_.

As they continued training with the same, if not greater vigor, time seemed to fly by and the end of the day was quickly approaching.

Big Blue graduation exam was coming fast, and Ditto is fairly confident that his housemate could pass the exam in flying colors. Except if it was on Kiri's history. Kisame had some slight difficulty in that subject.

 _(Okay, maybe more than slight difficulty. And by that, I mean even I'm better than him in that class.)_

* * *

"Eeeh? What do you mean I can't come with you?"

"I mean, I can't bring a dog in class. I don't think we're allowed to bring animals in the classroom, and even then, you'd just become a liability in the physical tests," Kisame told Ditto, who was currently— "Hey! Don't eat my assignments!"

Still in his canine form, Ditto looked up to face Big Blue with a mouthful of paper. He went on chewing for a few more seconds, before swallowing the whole. "Ah, sorry for that. I just had the inexplicable urge to rip some paper and feed on it and yeah, dogs. And wasn't the assignment just for those who wouldn't be able to graduate? As a sort of test to see if you were too stupid to comprehend basic stuff. But I'm sure you're going to make it! I'll cheer for you!"

Kisame just breathed out a resigned sigh _(It's not like he didn't have the skill to pass, so why worry so much about it?)_. "You know what? I'm just going to pack up and leave for the Academy now. Better go early than late," he said, reaching for his katana.

For his…

He feels stupid for not thinking of it earlier. After all, didn't Big Blue once tell him that he had a small legend to himself _(Wonder how that is going now? I haven't been shifting into weapons these days)_?

"Yo! Big Blue!"

"What?" he grunted out, preparing to head out.

"Remember that whole shapeshifting weapon thingy that got a few of you more than just curious?"

He slowly nodded, seemingly starting to get what Ditto was implying _(I hope, at least. If he didn't, well…)_

"So maybe you could bring me to your classes! Just not as a dog. Plus, I'm pretty sure I'm able to transform into blades sharper than that old one you're currently wielding. So how about it? Is it a deal?" he proposed,

Ditto waited with bated breath for the final answer _(_ _ **Do you want to see a classroom that bad? I mean, it's just a normal classroom**_ — _IT'S BIG BLUE'S CLASSROOM)_

"When you put it that way… I guess I could take you—"

"YEAH!"

" _-_ as long as you remain in a single form. Preferably a katana if you want to help in combat. And just try to not attract attention."

"YEAH!"

* * *

 _Kisame_

And his… partner? friend? melted down and reformed themself into a blade. Kisame had already seen the process a good few times, but it was still nonetheless strange to watch.

In the end he got a fine blade, indeed sharper than the one shishou gave him. A genin wouldn't normally have access to this quality, much less an Academy student, but he doubt anyone would notice.

He checked one last time to see if he had taken everything. Saito-sensei said they didn't need anything for today, but better than sorry.

And off they went to the Academy. He had taken a few things, but not enough that it was apparent that he had more than just a sword strapped on his back.

As Kisame arrived to his classroom in a light jog and he took his usual seat in the back, away from most of the annoying and loud people. From the looks of it, he wasn't the only one planning on arriving early. Some were chatting with their friends, presumably about the graduation exam, while others were revising on diverse subjects.

Sensei came in just one minute before class started. It was always that way; he constantly came exactly one minute ahead of time. A punctual man he was.

The class quickly quieted down as Saito-sensei swept the class with his ever uninterested look.

"…Four absents. They'll have to retake the year," he muttered, just loud enough for most of the class to hear.

"As most of you know, the genin examination is today." A few students looked surprised and looked at each other. Didn't they know? It was announced last week— oh, it was those who decided to skip class on a dare.

"Since the instauration of the new Mizukage," he continued on, "we have decided to revamp our graduation exam. From now on, there will only be one graduate by class," at that, the class burst out in an uproar, but was quickly silenced by a single glare from the instructor, "and the written portion of the exam has been removed."

"The test starts once I exit the classroom and it ends when only one of you is left alive."

He then calmly walked to the door, as if he didn't just imply that all the students were supposed to massacre every other student just to get the title of genin. The instructor stopped as he was about the close the door. "Oh, and good luck, class," he added as an afterthought.

The class was dead silent and no one dared to move for a brief moment.

The first one to move was, surprisingly, Miyu, aspiring kunoichi and considered the bookworm of the group. She slashed the classmate next to her in the throat, and an all-out battle kicked off from there.

Another student—Kisame was too busy slashing down other students to see who had talked—raised up his voice "Shouldn't we think about it for a bit?! This— this doesn't make sense! There must be a trick, a hidden test, any _-_ " and his plea died out, most probably killed by another.

What he said would make sense in another village, but not in Kiri. This was the Bloody Mist, where shinobi were taught to be ruthless and have no mercy.

It was not extremely easy, but wasn't all that bad. Yes, he was appalled that he had to kill everyone in the classroom. Yes, he still sustained some minor injuries, but it could have gone worse. With his training with the Kid and shishou, it was become increasingly easy to dodge amateur strikes and to hit faster and harder, not to mention that the katana he was currently using could cut through flesh like a hot knife would through butter.

There was that and also the fact that he was fighting to survive, so it's kill or be killed. Speaks for itself, really.

He ducked, slashed, kicked, punched, used feints, used water clones and whatever was necessary and efficient to the ongoing battle.

One by one, students fell down. Soon enough, a whole graduating class was cut down to just a few children sporting assorted injuries, ranging from a scratch on the elbow to a huge gash in the thigh, and even broken bones for one.

Kisame lunged for the one in the worst condition, quickly finishing him off with a swift thrust through the chest.

He heard yet another one fall down, and he whirls around to face his last opponent, and—

He was nowhere to be seen. He spun around once again, but he still couldn't see where his last foe was standing. Suddenly, his katana started vibrating. Without warning, another blade pierced through his shoulder, and his blade—Ditto—emitted a loud… screech. He'll call it a screech. But that didn't matter at the moment, because he had a sword PROTRUDING FROM HIS SHOULDER.

(Right. There was a Hozuki in his group.)

The screech left the two stunned for half a moment, but Kisame regained his bearings faster than the Hozuki, and immediately shoved the tip of his katana between the other student's eyes and buried them deep into his skull.

He stumbled a bit and retrieved his sword, completely forgetting about the blade still embedded in his shoulder.

Black spots begun clouding his vision and he heard a sharp ring from his katana and the sliding of a door before losing consciousness.

* * *

 **Now you know why this will never be classified as 'action'. I'll never be able to write a fight scene... *Sigh***

 **But anyways! Graduation exam and slaughtering children! Kiri is really weird. And disturbing. Actually, the whole shinobi world is pretty messed up. I mean, I know child soldiers exist, but come on! Sending 12 years old children for sabotage?**

 ***Whispers and hugs the screen* I have 30 follows. You see? That's my supporters. They're really great. You're all great. You're all awesome.**

 _Lucidsilver_ : You're reading word vomit. You're just reading word vomit and you're satisfied. You're... you guys make my days better.

 _Kejmur_ : Other Pokémon, huh? That would be interesting... I could try, but it probably won't come anytime soon. Maybe a few years before cannon officially starts?

 _Tanzanite-pony_ : Aw shucks! This was just an errant idea that popped up during a passing conversation about favorite Pokémon with my friend. I decided to develop the idea, and voila! This birthed out!

 **Reviews and suggestions are always appreciated!**


	10. Graduation 2

I do not own Naruto, nor do I own Pokémon.

* * *

 _Ditto_

Ditto, surprisingly, preserved his eyesight, hearing and touch. Well, not exactly eyesight, but more of a form of echolocation so that he wouldn't be able to distinguish colors and patterns, but could still make out the approximate shape of objects and living beings. That said, he still couldn't 'see' past the sheath Big Blue put him in when they left the house.

He also still had access to his sensing ability, which was nice. His sensing range could extend beyond his echolocation limit and with that, he could pinpoint various individuals based on their ripple pattern, plants and humans alike.

Arriving at what he presumes is the Academy _(Damn, this kid runs FAST!)_ , Ditto was suddenly bombarded with many more ripples _(Are they made of chakra? I think they're made of chakra. Better ask Big Blue about it after his exam)_ , varying in size and feel.

There were around a dozen people in the classroom at first, then more and more trickled in as time passed. The room was mostly quiet, save for whispers here and there from small clusters of students. What he assumed were students, at least _(They could have been talking flowers and I would have never known)_.

After an indefinite amount of time, an adult, judging from the size of the ripple, walked in and started talking about something. Ditto did not pay attention to what he said, having already drifted off into his inner thoughts and missed most of the teacher's speech.

He only snapped back to reality towards the end _(_ _ **Did you really not notice when people started screaming?**_ _—_ _I WAS THINKING ABOUT FOOD)_ and heard 'good luck' and the sliding of a door.

A beat of silence.

A scream then tore through the stillness and all hell broke loose at that moment.

He felt himself being unsheathed and being plunged _—_ was it between the ribs? _—_ in the body of a young child, taken out of said body and being hastily swung at another direction, countering someone else's blow.

It's… unnerving, to say the least. It wasn't the first time Ditto took another being's life. Hell, he had already once decimated hordes of Pokémon _(Try having a carnivorous and extremely territorial friend who gets his home invaded by swarms and swarms of little critters every autumn. Then comes hibernation, and that friend needs a heck ton of food. And then imagine being stuck with that friend for four years)_ , no matter what size, age or type. But this was different. These were just children _(And humans. But then again, humans here seem to have some Pokémon properties)_ , and they weren't even that skilled in battle.

 _'_ _Just don't think of them as squishy underage flesh beings. Think of… hunting. Yeah, hunting with Zwei. Hunting squishy things because they trespassed his territory and he was hella hungry.'_

After much more hacking and slashing through the flesh _(And as morbid as it sounds, my cuts were reasonably smooth. I'm pretty sure that Kisame could've cleanly bisected one of the students if he just put a teeny tiny bit more of power in that slice)_ of many, _many_ children, the number of survivors has already decreased to four still standing, including Big Blue.

Seconds later, there was only one left to kill _(By now, I think I got the idea that this whole place was just messed up. Seriously, who pits little kids together in a giant death match?)_ , but…

That person was somehow gliding on the floor?

He was now making a beeline towards Kisame, and for some reason Ditto's partner still wasn't aware of the imminent danger. Noticing that Big Blue still hasn't turned around to face the threat, he tried to warn him by generating a pulse of chakra _(Not being able to perform jutsus doesn't mean I can't use it!)_ through the hilt, but he reacted a split second too late.

Someone's blade had sunk somewhere in Big Blue's upper body _(Did you actually think that I would have paid attention to details while he's being STABBED TO DEATH?)_ and in that instant, he came to remember that no, Kisame was not like them, that he didn't have the endurance of a Pokémon, and much less the vitality of his former partners.

Trying to find a solution _(_ _ **Think fast!**_ _—_ _WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M DOING?)_ , he recalled a strategy once used by a Doublade and mimicked the loud scraping noise of metal grinding on metal _(Metal Screech, I think it was called. Very annoying, very effective)_.

To his satisfaction, the method gave it intended effect, even if both combatants froze up. Ditto will just have to put his faith in Big Blue. If it came to the worse, he could always shift into a Pokémon, snap the kid's neck and run away _(And ask Kisame if he would want to escape with me and maybe become fugitives on the run._

 _…_

 _Arceus, that sounded like a cheesy romance comedy or something.)_.

Much to his relief, Kisame was the one who countered first, jamming sword-Ditto through the other kid's head, effectively ending that one's life _(Barbaric, yes, but survival of the fittest here. At least, from what I've seen for the past minutes)_.

Big Blue was now the last one still standing and breathing in the classroom. Does that mean he passed? Does that mean he's safe now?

Worry started to bubble up in Ditto's mind when his current wielder still didn't move from his spot.

 _'_ _Is he_ _—?_ _'_

Kisame then collapsed.

Fear replaced his worry, but a quick pulse of chakra revealed that he was not quite yet on the brink of death. If only he could have eyes to see and assess the damage, and maybe he wouldn't have to distress over Big Blue.

If he was heavily injured, Ditto could transform into a Pokémon that knows a healing move. Big Blue specifically told him to stay out of trouble, it would be alright if it was to save his life, wouldn't it?

As he was about to transform into an Audino, he felt the door open and an adult, presumably the teacher, walked in. Maybe he was here to treat Kisame? He picked up Big Blue and strapped sword-Ditto on his back, and all of the sudden, there was a strange pulling sensation and Ditto found himself in a new location, still strapped to someone's back.

The feedback he was getting from his sensing hit him all at once like a ton of bricks _(Actually, it was more like when you're peacefully reading at home, then BAM! You're suddenly drowning in a bathtub)_ , and he needed a few seconds to recover from the shock and realize that they were in a hospital.

The instructor handed Kisame to some people, who then wheeled him away. Probably to remove the sword still protruding from his shoulder and patch up his wounds _(Stay strong, Big Blue!)_.

So sword-Ditto was left with the teacher _(What's his name again?)_ , who has already removed him from the scabbard and was now staring intently at him.

 _'_ _Looks like it's just you and me, not-yet-bud.'_

* * *

 _Isao_

Isao was just a regular Kiri chunin and instructor of a graduate class. He did not consider himself special in any sort, but he does take pride in his ability to remain impassive under pressure.

Being analytical isn't his forte, but he recognizes a rising prodigy when he sees one. After all, he has already shared group with one when he was still young and seeing where he ended up as of late, Isao wouldn't be surprised if Kisame would join their ranks if he continues as he is.

The graduate of the class had already been determined beforehand. Not as in that Isao specifically picked Kisame from the innumerable students from his class, but more of how much the child surpassed all his peers in nearly all fields. His theoretical and historical knowledge lacked, but since they only put to the test their combat abilities, it mattered not.

There was also that Hozuki boy, Ryou, who also had potential. He would have been a good infiltrator candidate, although his hand-to-hand combat skills were limited, and that lead to his downfall. He would have had a chance in the exam if only he was slightly faster and had a better aim. A waste of a good kekkei genkai, really.

Hoshigaki's performance was not disappointing, not in the least. No hesitation to strike down any foe, regardless for any of their aspect. A versatile combatant, kenjutsu being his main forte, but he also displayed prowess in taijutsu. He also used a few water ninjutsu ranging from D-rank to C-rank, which was also impressive given his status as student.

 _'_ _I guess this is what happens when one of the Seven Swordsmen takes someone with a huge chakra pool under his wing.'_

And wasn't he Fuguki's apprentice? Give it a few years, and the lad might actually be part of the famed Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.

And talking about his kenjutsu prowess, Isao had found his katana alongside of his prone form. He hadn't paid much mind about it, more focused about bringing his unconscious student to the hospital before he bled to death.

As he took out the sword (he actually took the time to retrieve the sheath), he idly remarked the blade had a refined edge, nothing too spectacular, but definitely a higher quality than what a genin could afford. Must have been a gift from Fuguki-san, then.

It was also chakra-conductive, as demonstrated when Kisame sent a pulse through the blade to distract Ryou, and may had also been imbued with some beforehand, from the constant hum of energy he was feeling from the katana in his hands.

But enough about the sword. It was his (former) student's, and it's rude to prod at someone else's belongings. He should return it to him, or at least put it to his bedside once Kisame is deemed stable. It shouldn't be long, for that the only serious injury he has was at the shoulder, and the medic-nin they have here are competent enough. He may not be fit for heavy training for a few more days, but should recover nicely if he doesn't strain the muscle too much.

"Saito-san?" chimed a feminine voice to his right. He turned his head towards the source of the sound and re-sheathed the katana, seeing the nurse standing just outside one of the rooms, clipboard in hand. "Hoshigaki-kun is now available for visits. Just sign here…"

He just hopes he did not forget Kisame's headband in his desk. And didn't that desk get smashed during the exam?

 _'_ _What a bother… I'll have to buy myself a new one.'_

* * *

 _Kisame_

Kisame awoke in an unfamiliar white room, feeling the sheets crinkle under his body. What had happened again? He was _—_

Oh right. The graduation exam. He was probably brought to the hospital shortly after.

He remembered the scene vividly. A katana in hand, hacking his way through one by one, and blood splattering everywhere. Cuts here and there and a blade plunged deep into his shoulder.

But that didn't matter now; what matters was that he passed and was still breathing. He tried to sit up, but a stinging sensation in his shoulder stopped him from doing so. He tried again once more, this time slower, and managed to get himself in a sitting position on the hospital bed, noticing a glimmering object on a nightstand not too far away.

Kisame hopped off the bed, wincing at a sudden jolt of pain, and made his way the item. He should be more careful around his shoulder, which was now wrapped up in some bandages.

A hitai-ate with the Kirigakure emblem engraved on the metal plate. He tied it around his head and noticed a slip of paper where the forehead protector once rested.

 _Congratulations for graduating and reaching to genin._

 _You will meet your team and sensei at the sixth training ground tomorrow at noon. I have also put your sword under your bed._

 _-Saito_

So Ditto did stay in that form even after he lost consciousness. But why did Saito-sensei put them under the bed? Couldn't he have just put it beside the nightstand?

But either way, Kisame succeeded retrieving back Ditto by using his leg to reach out for the scabbard, not wanting to risk stretching his injured shoulder. He wonders if it's uncomfortable to be contained in a small space as an object for a long period of time. Ditto did mention that they once got put in a kunai holster and luckily for them, was used in a battle and never got retrieved, enabling a safe escape.

Now that his shoulder got patched up nicely and he got back Ditto and the headband, he should get going. No use staying in the hospital longer than needed.

But first, change out of this hospital gown. His clothes were conveniently placed on the other side of the room and his current attire was getting irritating.

* * *

"So how was the exam? From your perspective, I mean."

As soon as Kisame got back home and locked the door, Ditto reverted back to their original blue body and went off to wash themself clean of the stains littering their body, saying that it was uncomfortable being covered in blood.

"Honestly, it was easier than I expected. I never formed any bond with my classmates since most of them distanced themselves from me and some even despised my existence, so there wasn't anything really holding me back. Though I received a nasty gash on the shoulder, there wasn't any other major injury. So I'd say it went rather all right."

Kisame was currently sitting on the floor, lightly massaging his injury while Ditto was lounging on the ground, chewing on an apple. Where did they even get that? He was pretty sure there weren't any apples in the house.

"Mm. So I heard you were going to meet your team soon? Can I come? You know I won't cause any trouble!"

He considered their request, thinking back on the past few hours.

They stuck to their word to not attract attention, and additionally, they do make a fine katana. It wouldn't be that bad to bring them again with him.

"I guess you could. You have yet to go back on any of your word and you do make quite a blade. Just this time…" he felt a slight upward tug at his lips "try to warn me before you burst my eardrums."

They huffed indignantly and muttered "Wasn't my fault you didn't sense someone sneaking up on you and trying to kill you from behind…"

* * *

Kisame, with Ditto as a katana firmly strapped to his back, arrived at the chosen training ground at the appointed time and saw someone already waiting there; a young female redhead leaning on one of the neighboring trees. Must be one of his teammates then.

"Oh," the girl said, seeing him arrive, "you must be the second member. There's only the third member and sensei whom still haven't arrived yet."

Kisame just nodded at that, not having anything to say. He then realized that he hadn't gotten her name yet and was going to ask her for it when someone dropped from the tree she was propped up on and beat him to it.

"Yo! I'm Mangetsu! And who're you, pretty lady?" the boy asked, sending said girl a toothy grin.

Before any of them could react, a figure walked into the clearing, revealing a slender black-haired woman. She swept her gaze over the three newly graduated genin before speaking up. "You guys don't look that impressive. 'Cept for the shark kid. And the other dude with sharp teeth. And wow, you have really bright hair!"

She seemed thoughtful for a moment and nodded to herself. "Actually, you guys look pretty cool. So you're cool, we're cool, everyone's cool."

"Oh, and I guess welcome to Squad Four or something."

* * *

 **So this concludes the graduation exam. Isao is slightly irritated at a small matter (compared to what just went down), and we meet the team! From here... I'll have to admit that I have almost nothing planned.**

 **...**

 **More accurately, I have actually _nothing_ concrete planned out. This whole story is improvised. Hopefully I'll have a well-thought plot by the time the action really cranks up.**

 _Lucidsilver_ : Eeeh... I kind of try to interpret the Pokémon behaviors following the manga and try to sometimes link with animal manners. So law of the jungle applies most of the times in the wild, and Pokémon aren't all that sensible to killing (there's an example of it towards the beginning of the _Pokémon Adventures_ series). And also, Ditto would prefer to stay low-key for the time being, since it would just be inconvenient to attract unwanted attention (let's say, Yagura or someone important). And he hasn't seen Samehada unwrapped yet.

 **(Edited on 16/05/24. Just abbreviated the previous response a bit, somewhat less confusing now.)**

 _ivanganev1992_ : As I pointed out in the previous notice, Ditto would prefer to not reveal his status to the grand public yet. It would most probably escalate into something really big, and he prefers to avoid those situations as much as possible. (For now. ) Also, Ditto has no real attachment to any of the other students and Kisame doesn't show hesitation when it comes to cutting them down, so he doesn't really have any reasons to try to save them. He feels a bit bad for it, but that's it. Kind of how you feel sorry for the bird that got run over by a truck. And if Ditto were to demonstrate his ability freely... It'll put on a pretty good show. With blimps, giant hovering lizards and glitter.

 **Hm... somehow, I have the feeling that this AN is longer than the other ones. I wonder why...**

 **Oh, and next update might be slightly delayed due to exams and projects. Yeah, again.**

 **Reviews and suggestions are always appreciated!**


	11. Advancing 1

I do not own Naruto, nor do I own Pokémon.

* * *

 _Kisame_

"Right. So…" she took out a piece of paper and quickly skimmed over its content, "looks like it's team introduction time. It'll go clockwise, so the flirty dude will go first. Actually, no I'll go first. Can't trust you guys to not screw it up by accident."

The three of them sat in a half-circle with who Kisame assumes is their new sensei in front of them.

"Name is Yuki Hoshiko and I'll be your jounin-sensei until… I don't know, you reach jounin rank yourself? You can call me Hoshiko-sensei or Yuki-sama. Your choice. I enjoy stargazing and tripping unsuspecting passersby. I dislike tardy people and wasting time. I'm a genjutsu specialist. Alright, now it's your turn," she finished, pointing to the next person.

"Is it my turn?" at the stares he was getting, he continued on, "Hey! I didn't know!" More stares. "Alright, alright… Name's Hozuki Mangetsu, I like cherries and cute girls," he sent a wink towards the auburn haired kunoichi, "I dislike bitter food and killjoys. My dream's to master all seven swords from the Swordsmen of the Mist."

Hozuki Mangetsu. White haired, sharp teeth... Now doesn't that seem familiar? Maybe he shares Ryou's bloodline limit. They are from the same clan, after all.

Hoshiko-sensei gestured to the kunoichi to carry on.

"I'm Terumi Mei. I like training and squids and I dislike prejudices, as well as backstabbing people. I'm best with ninjutsu," she concluded, nodding to herself.

Not much to say about her, likely the more collected one of the two.

"Right. You're the last one left, shark guy."

"Hoshigaki Kisame. I like eating shrimps and crabs, I dislike shark fin soup. I wish to one day be part of the Seven Swordsmen and… I also wish be able to battle anyone I come across," he ended with a challenging grin.

Hoshiko then clapped her hands together, a bright grin blossoming on her face. "So we're officially a team now!" She froze out for a moment, as though she had forgotten what she had planned to say. She whipped out the same piece of paper out again and stuffed it in her pocket once she had finished looking it through.

She cleared her throat before speaking up again. "Right. Missions. Our first mission will be in a week and a few days, and before you protest and say something like 'Oh, but dear sensei! Why must you do this to us?' I'll just have you know that I wasn't supposed to meet you right now. I was supposed to meet you in a week and a few days. I got kinda impatient and I was really excited to see my first genin team, so yeah. You get the image, no? So consider yourselves lucky. You now know each other's name and know what to not accidentally spark an internal war between you three, so you have that."

She looked at the three fresh genin, a contemplative look on her face. "Did I have anything else to say…? Oh right! I think I left my kettle on, and now I'll go back home to make sure it doesn't burn down. See ya next week!"

And with that, she shunshined away, likely to go back to attend to whatever she had to do.

The three of them sat there, processing what had just happened. They blinked a few times, and Mangetsu was the first to break the silence. "Anyone wants to train? Just to see our battle styles."

"As much as I want to, I'll stay out of this one. I'm still recovering from yesterday," Kisame motioned to his right shoulder, "and I don't think I can do much with it without straining it. Maybe next time."

"So…" the white-haired boy drawled out, hooking his arm around Mei "looks like it leaves just you and me to train, huh?"

To Kisame's great amusement, the kunoichi only blew out hot steam, Mangetsu's quick reflexes being the only thing saving him from getting a scalded face. "Already started? Then let's get at it!" She wiped the corner of her mouth, preparing herself as Mangetsu charged at her.

As much as he wanted to stay, he decided to head back home to sort some things out. Plus, if something would accidentally fly towards him during his spar and he didn't have the time to dodge, he wouldn't be able to defend himself without putting stress on his injury.

With that, he started walking away from the training ground, fully intending to return home take a rest.

* * *

Kisame wasn't so sure what to think of his team. His sensei seemed to be a very unorganized person and his male teammate appeared to be the overly eccentric and slightly flirtatious type of person. Mei, his female teammate, is the only one who has yet to give a bad impression.

Then again, looks could be deceiving and this team wouldn't be as bad as he first thought it would be.

' _Never judge a book by its cover,'_ he thought to himself.

And now that he took notice, Mangetsu was fast enough to avoid an attack at point blank range, Mei had used a jutsu he had never seen or heard about, and Hoshiko had used a body flicker without him even seeing the hand seal for it.

Decidedly, they probably are stronger than they let on.

* * *

 _Ditto_

As Big Blue was heading back home, Ditto reflected on his impression of the two other members and the sensei of Squad Four _(_ _ **Four… such an ominous number, don't you think?**_ _— Just let me concentrate on next internal monologue)_ since he couldn't talk to his partner as a sword and he wouldn't take the chance to transform in public.

First off was their sensei, Hoshiko Yuki. Has by far the largest ripple, excluding Big Blue's _(I learnt to overlook Kisame's ripple temporarily! Now I can sense living things close to Big Blue without getting them confused with each other!)_ , and seems to be the forgetful type of person. Seems laid back, but is doubtlessly skilled in combat, judging from her rank.

She probably would have been a cool person to hang out with if he weren't an alternate colored shapeshifting Pokémon who maybe still has his own small scaled myth that got people curious.

Second one up, Terumi Mei. There wasn't much he could get from her _('Cept from her likes and dislikes. Basic introduction, anyone?)_ apart from the fact that there's a good chance she's proficient with ninjutsu _(Fairly certain those ripples are made out of chakra now. I discovered can feel the different hand seals!)_ and that she can be stingy around physical contact.

Ditto still doesn't know what to think of her, but he's still proud at his discovery. He's starting to really miss going to the library. Maybe he could ask Kisame if he could go borrow a few books on the Elemental Nations' geography or on chakra. Or maybe not. He doesn't really want to risk injuring Big Blue's shoulder any more than necessary.

Last but not least, the amazingly not subtle Mangetsu! Possible skirt chaser? Fun flirt of a guy, at least. The boy's agile, he'll give him that. He had the time to unhook his arm and slip away when he noticed that Mei was preparing to spit whatever she was going to spit in his face.

Somehow, he felt familiar to Ditto. Not only personality wise _(*Cough* definitely not Brock *Cough*)_ , but the ripple pattern. Like he has already seen him, but just can't place his finger _—_ or blade _—_ on it. Maybe if he—

"You do realize you can shift back now, right?" Kisame's voice broke off his thinking, having already leant sword-Ditto on the wall. He quickly reverted back to his original form _(I've done noticeable progress with Transform since I came here. I mean, I can control how long the shifting between the initial and final shape lasts! How cool is that?)_ and getting out of the scabbard.

"So what do you think of your team? They sound pretty rad to me. You have a jaunty teacher, a flirt and a probably really pretty girl making up the crew. And you have me! And talking about myself, I'll do my part of the introduction. Because I'm also kind of part of your team by association?

"Anyways, the name is—as you already know—Ditto, or Lil' Blue if you want to go in the specific. I like exploring new places along with uncovering myths and legends, and I dislike being stuck in one place for too long. And I also like flower shops. Especially that one in Kanto! My best expertise… I guess it's running away from battles? Yeah, that would work. And my dream—was it even mine?—is to travel around the globe and map the world!"

One thing Ditto likes about Big Blue was that he would always listen to him ranting, no matter how much gibberish he would spew out _(Okay, maybe he ignored it a few times when it REALLY degenerated into utter nonsensical ramble)_. He would actually _listen_ , and well, it was nice to have someone listen to you once in a while.

"Ditto?"

Said blob turned an inquisitive look towards him, prompting the shark-like boy to continue with his question.

"Do you ever get homesick? Seeing that you often travel around."

Ah, curiosity, you lovely thing.

"Not that much anymore. You get pretty well used to it when you spent a few decades jumping from one location to another. Though I'll admit that I have had my moments of reminiscing about my first home and consequently getting hit in the face during battles. But all in all, it's good. After all, wouldn't I have stopped roaming the land if I found myself constantly longing for my homeland?"

That was true. He loved Kanto, he really did. Heck, that's even where the living Fossil lived and where he stashed most of his findings _(Though the old-timer has probably claimed them as his own and hid them away in his hoard of miscellaneous objects. He might have been my cave roommate for more than just a few years, but that doesn't give him the freedom to steal my belongings)_! Still, he had a goal to pursue and he could always come back from time to time, even if it's just once per few years.

Once you travel long enough, you pretty much get accustomed to the fact that sometimes home is unreachable _(Or is it just that I'm adaptable?)_. New places also comes with the chance to meet new friends _(Doesn't that sound corny!)_ , even if you know there's a possibility you might never see them again after you leave the region.

Still, point made; it was just a question of time and accepting reality for him.

"And can I also ask you a favor?"

The corner of his mouth tugged upwards, forming a crooked grin. "You know you don't have to ask for permission every time, hm? But anyways, yeah, you can. Except if it were to be something extravagant like going to swipe some stuck-up noble on the other side of the country's fortune. I mean, it would be fun, but it probably won't come without consequences, though."

Kisame took a piece of paper and a pen _(From all the time I have spent in this house, I have never discovered where he puts his writing tools. How bizarre…)_ , and scribbled something down on it before rolling it up and tying it with a string.

"Could you deliver this to Zabuza? Need to somehow tell him I won't be coming to the training sessions during the week and I'll be having a lot less time for sparring with him. And I don't feel like getting ambushed by the Kid while sporting an injured shoulder. I doubt he'd attack an animal for no reason and much less you, so could you relay the message for me?"

Ditto transformed into his usual canine form and taking the rolled up message between his jaws. "Will do!" he managed to tell Big Blue before bolting out of an open window and running towards the Assembly Field.

* * *

 _Zabuza_

Kisame didn't come to training today. He didn't on the previous day either. If Zabuza remembered correctly, the day before yesterday was the graduation exam. The original exam had apparently been replaced by another one, considerably harder, if the whispers he heard this morning were anything to go by.

And just then, he heard footsteps running his way. The boy would have guessed it would be his older sparring partner, but the steps were too light to be his'. He squinted his eyes at the approaching figure, trying to discern who—or what—it was.

As it neared closer, he finally saw what it is. It was a dog, or more precisely, Kisame's mutt.

The dog might be on its way, but Kisame still was nowhere to be seen. If Kisame had gone off to do a mission, he would have taken that mutt with him. Not only would it be useful for small, but important tasks, but the older student, surely already genin by now, wouldn't be one to leave a companion alone. Zabuza understands the first reason, but isn't so sure how would the second one be beneficial for him.

As the mutt finally arrived, skidding to an abrupt halt, he noticed a note clenched between its teeth. It raised its head, as if wanting him to take it. It probably does.

He took the scrap of paper and untied the strand bound around it, reading its content.

Someone actually managed to get a good hit on Kisame during the exam. If someone had this level of skill…

He felt excitement bubble up, eager—

And it was cut short, as he realized that no one in his class could even rivalize him in terms of combat. Also for the fact that his graduation exam wouldn't be coming before a few years.

' _Though I could always move on to another classroom after I finish with those weaklings.'_

That would mean potential challenging opponents. Kisame wasn't here for training, and probably won't be for the next few days, and he never seriously fought a dog before. No better time to try than now.

Zabuza lifted his gaze up, only to see the mutt scampering away. In a blink, it was already gone, having scurried off to wherever it was going to. He stuffed the scrap of paper in his pocket and drew out a shuriken.

Aim,

Throw,

Repeat.

Looks like it will be another day of training alone. He misses the thrill of battling against Kisame.

* * *

 _Ditto_

The Jerk's ripple—chakra thingy—was outright terrifying for a moment. It was sudden and ghastly; his ripple seemed to have taken life of its own, forming into a demon. There, Ditto's _(Or the dog's. Never really sure it's which one's_ _it is_ _when taking another form)_ fight-or-flight response took over, and having already experience many split-second decisions, he hightailed away, getting as far away as possible from him.

' _Arceus damn, that kid can get scary real quick. Wonder what caused that thing to form?'_

Currently, he was trotting down an alleyway, trying to figure out where _the hell_ he wound up in. He had pretty much already mapped the main parts of Kirigakure, so he concluded this was part of the slums, the red district or anything or the sort. He had never really been to those places, since Big Blue never went there.

His assumption was confirmed when he spotted groups of malnourished children flitting around, some pickpocketing civilians, others foraging in garbage bags with a hungry look in their eyes.

If he remembered correctly, one of the next forks would lead back to a familiar road. Now to find the right one… He really didn't want to become someone else's next meal, and he doesn't doubt that someone here would be desperate enough to knock him out to try to eat him, either cooked or raw _(Probably cooked, though. Even for their current status, I would honestly be surprised if they couldn't manage to light a fire)_.

If it did come to that, he could just revert back to his original form or transform into an object and hopefully convince the person that what he saw was just a hallucination.

Not taking more time to entertain that idea, he bolted across the various pathways, searching which one would be the most effective exit.

Fortunately, nothing too big happened during his escape, reaching a main street fairly quickly this time, and he hastily made his way back home _(Let's hope this luck will last… —_ _ **You have possibly just jinxed yourself**_ _)_.

* * *

"What took you so long? Did you get lost in the streets?"

Ditto came back through the same window, surprising Big Blue who was doing his stretches. He smiles sheepishly, reverting back to his semi-liquid form and closing the window.

"Yeah… about that. I kind of ran away from the Jerk—well, Zabuza—after delivering your message and went off-track for a moment...?" he replied, more of a question than an answer. "But enough about how I got lost despite my exceptional sense of direction! _(Hey! At least I was able to find my way back faster than most of my friends if they would have been in the same situation!)_ What do you plan on doing for the rest of the week? Since you can't train and all that. And I highly doubt you plan to spend it stretching."

Kisame stood up from and scratched his chin, looking pensive for a moment. "I can't say I have. Do you?"

"Hm…" A strange glint formed in the shapeshifter's eyes, and a smile slowly spread on his face. "I can teach you some useful not combat related stuff! Not saying that you're dim-witted or anything. You're actually pretty smart! I mean, you can establish links between stuff and all that, but the Academy lacked in some categories. So I'll help you with that. Like navigation and geology stuff. Lil old me has years of experience and has raided countless libraries—I put the books back after, so don't worry 'bout that—through many regions, so yeah! Survival and interesting things!

"Let's get at it!"

 _(The days passed quite quickly like that. Not only teaching and studying, of course; that would be a beyond boring way to spend the whole time. And Big Blue even agreed on borrowing a few books for me!)_

* * *

 **Mm. Looks like it was more than just a _slight_ delay. Do expect to see me make many more excuses in the future; I'm just that type of person. Plus, my writing speed is pretty slow. So there's that. But fear not! At least there's a guarantee of at least one chapter per three weeks month. I hope. (Edit 11/06/16)**

 **But that aside, I... forgot what I was going to say.**

 **Anyways. I made a super duper teeny tiny minor change in the previous chapter. Just one word. See if you can find it?**

 **Oh yeah! I'm was going to make another excuse: Projects and procrastination going on, and I'll let you to deduce the ending of that statement!**

 **Reviews and suggestions are always appreciated!**


	12. Advancing 2

I do not own Naruto, nor do I own Pokémon.

* * *

 _Kisame_

They were going to receive their first mission today.

Kisame was currently standing at the training ground where they first met, waiting for his teammates and sensei. He wasn't sure if they were supposed to meet here; Hoshiko-sensei didn't even tell them where to meet up.

Of course, Ditto nagged him into bringing them as his sword, saying that they wanted to 'explore' and that they found his team amusing. Which he didn't deny. Ditto also muttered something suspiciously like 'can't even sense for Arceus' sake'. What was an Arceus? Then again, he might have just imagined it.

Minutes later, Mangetsu and Mei came up running head to head, seemingly arguing about something. Only a week in, and they look already more than only familiar one with the other. Perhaps they might have known each other beforehand.

"Watch it, punks!" an old man yelled as his male teammate nearly barrelled into him, trying to overpass Mei. He ignored the man's furious shout, more concentrated on trying to one up his teammate.

"And now you just made an enemy out of the oldster. You should really watch your steps more carefully," the auburn-haired girl commented between breaths, shooting Mangetsu a sideways glance.

"And how was I supposed to know he was coming out of the stall? I'm not a sensor! And why are you even so grumpy?" he whined, as they both reached the training ground.

"Maybe I wouldn't be so grumpy if you didn't wake me up so early—" It wasn't even that early, it was currently somewhere past six fifty. "—at the ungodly hour of three o'clock in the morning!" Maybe that was relatively early. Kisame wouldn't normally wake up that early anytime soon; what use would that have? The sun wouldn't even be out yet.

"But I thought you liked to train, so I—"

"You still shouldn't have screamed my name in the middle of the compound!"

And at that moment, Hoshiko-sensei decided to drop in between the two squabbling teammates.

She jumped down from a nearby tree, landing right in the middle of Mangetsu's and Mei's line of sight and thus silencing the both of them.

"Thirty eight minutes and twenty three seconds late. I searched everywhere for you guys! Where were you— Right. Forgot to tell you where and when. My bad. But now we're horrendously late for our first ever mission! Village gate in three minutes! If you're not there by then, I'll be leaving without you guys. _Meetyouthere_!" she finished promptly, body flickering away.

"The village gate is around one kilometre and a half away," Kisame supplied. "There's a shortcut east to this clearing; you can take it if you want to avoid having to make a detour to the main street." During the last days, Ditto drew him an approximate map of the village, excluding the few back roads and districts he hadn't visited yet. They also made him copy it down a few times, saying that 'it would be useful in case he would get lost'.

( _"Why am I doing this again?"_

 _"So that you do not make the same mistake as I—"_

 _"You mean running away for no apparent reason and thus ending up in a shady alleyway?"_

 _"As I was saying, to not repeat my mistake, and if you do, you know how to get out of it. And plus, you get to know alternate routes to take if you ever encounter someone you dearly wished didn't exist or you just didn't want to see. Worked for me in the past!"_

 _"If you say so…"_ )

"You two can follow me if you don't know the way", Kisame continued on, before taking off in a sprint. "We'll waste less time like this." He shot a glance behind to see that both his teammates have indeed decided to follow him.

Smart choice.

The team reached the village gate in a little less than the allotted time, seeing their sensei sitting on the ground and grumbling softly. Noticing them approach, she perked up and sprang up from her sitting position.

"And I thought you would never come, you slowpokes! I seriously considered abandoning you guys here!" Hoshiko then turned her back to the team and pointed at the open gates. "Onwards, my minions! We're taking the first step towards glory!"

And she marched out—more of an exaggerated slow jog, really—of the village with the rest of the team taking a few seconds to regain composure and follow her suit.

"H-hey! Wait up, sensei!" Except maybe for Mangetsu.

"That's Hoshiko-sensei for you!" she shouted back, not bothering to slow down or turn around.

* * *

"Hoshiko-sensei?" The team was currently walking down a path, presumably to meet that client. That's what Kisame thought, at least. She never told them where or what they were going to do; just that there was a mission to complete.

"Hm?"

"What are we supposed to do? What's this mission about?" He might as well ask, since there was nothing better to do at the moment.

(Aside from listening to Mangetsu's obvious attempt to court Mei, but he wasn't all that interested in that. She has yet to snap at him, just sometimes giving him a look and mostly ignoring them.)

"Didn't I tell you lot?" She stopped walking for a few seconds, before starting again, this time slightly faster. "Oh riiiiiiiight… I was so in a rush that I forgot to do a mission debrief. But that's okay, we can do it on the go. Like right now! So in resume, we have this young merchant who lost something really precious—I think it was his wife's ring, that poor man—in a wooded area and was too much of a sissy to go get it himself. So he called us to go find it!"

Mangetsu threw in a few questions of his own, and we then learned that Hoshiko-sensei hadn't properly read the mission scroll and only knew a few vague details about it. Kisame dearly wished she wasn't that forgetful on a daily basis. Or that it was just a trick to fool everyone into underestimating her. Yeah, that sounded right. Having an opponent miscalculating your capabilities could give you the upper hand in a battle.

But that aside, they should be approaching their destination, if Hoshiko-sensei's sudden change in her pace was anything to go by.

"Gotta go faster and faster… can't be late or reputation will be down by one…" she muttered to herself, still speeding up and taking longer strides. What reputation was there to tarnish? Being extremely forgetful? Though she did say that she was punctual.

It was probably just that.

Fortunately for her, he could already see a small town. Now's to wish that it was their destination and not just a random village.

* * *

"Oh dear, oh dear… What am I to do? They should be here in a few minutes… If they can't find it, and she was already terribly upset, what would happen? Oh, what am I to do…" A man with his brown hair cut short was walking in circles, biting his nails and muttering to himself. At the sight of the approaching team, relief flourished on his face as he rushed up to meet the members.

"Thank kami you're here! You're the team assigned to help me find my wife's lost ring, am I right? But how embarrassing would it be if I mistook you for another team? Oh, that surely would be terrible! Terrible and embarrassing, I would say! But nonetheless!" He shook the hands of the team members, some still shocked at the sudden outburst. Kisame was already accustomed to Ditto's rambling, but this man was absolutely _frantic_.

"So here's the thing." He lowered his voice and looked around, as if to see if anyone would be eavesdropping on him. "I was coming back from my travel to the Land of Noodles, and I found out that I dropped my wife's ring. I would bring it to my trips, as a promise to always come back home. I dropped it in the forest just south of here. I cannot retrieve myself, for that wild animals inhabit those woods and I am but a poor—"

Hoshiko-sensei raised her hand up and motioned him to pause. The man snapped his mouth shut, letting her the chance to speak. "Right." He was skittish, eagerly awaiting her answer.

"Could you repeat please? You were speaking too fast for me to understand. And could you speak louder? Can't hear you over these two" she gestured to Mangetsu, who was chattering in a shushed voice with Mei, "bonding together."

Kisame and his two other teammates, who stopped talking to look at their sensei, deadpanned at her comment.

' _Today might be long day…'_ he thought to himself.

* * *

"So according to this map—"

"Sensei, you're holding it upside down."

"That's Hoshiko-sensei! And yes, I knew that," she huffed out before turning it to its intended position. "Happy now?"

"Not important stuff aside, I managed to get a drawing of the ring from the client himself!" She held up a slip of paper with a crudely drawn ring on it. "And since he completely sucks at drawing, I asked him to describe it for me. From the gibberish he was spouting, I got the words 'ninja magic' and 'name'. So what I think is that he brought his ring to a shinobi and got his wife's name etched on it with chakra. Am I right?"

Huddled in a half-circle, the members of the team pressed against each other, each one trying to get a good view of the map.

"Wait a minute…" This time, it was Mei who piped in. "Wasn't this place an old bandit lair? The ring could have been stolen for all that we know. Not counting that we're trying to find a _ring_ , of all things, in a _forest_."

All gazes turned to stare at her. A beat of silence—which the ever flirt broke only seconds later. "Don't be such a pessimist, Terumi-chan! It doesn't suit you! Didn't sensei—" "It's Hoshiko-sensei, minion!" "—say that it had been imbued with chakra? Maybe we could track it down. Or at least Hoshiko-sensei could find a way to track it down."

"What, me?" The team fixed their stares on said jounin, urging her to continue. "I'm not much of a sensor myself," she ignored the crestfallen expressions she received at that and continued on, "but I've heard—"

At that specific moment, a rumble resounded from her stomach. "Well, looks like it's time for a snack for me. Can't go on without an empty stomach. Unfortunately, I have left it in what's-his-name's house, so you'll have to fare without me for now. See you in a bit, I guess. Food doesn't wait!"

And in a blink, she was gone. No doubt she used a shunshin there.

The team stayed speechless for a moment, staring blankly at the spot where their sensei used to be just seconds ago, with now only the map fluttering down to the ground.

"Did she just do what I think she did?"

"She left us to go eat." Kisame processed his statement, realizing what he just said. "She _left_ us to go _eat_." What did he do to deserve this? And on the first mission? Talk about bad luck.

"Hey, at least she left us the map." Mangetsu was perhaps the only one here who still had hope for Hoshiko-sensei.

* * *

"If we follow the trail the client—did we ever get his name?—has traced out on the map, our next search perimeter would be around the empty fishing shack on the riverbank. It's one of our last destinations, so if we don't find the ring soon, we'll have to backtrack and scout the area again." Mei was walking in the lead, focused on the map and glancing around every now and then.

As it turned out, she made a decent leader despite her small stature.

Arriving at the shack, Kisame noted that, in spite of Mei saying that it was now unused, he could still smell the lingering odor of blood and seafood. Maybe someone had been here recently?

"I'll go see if I can find anything inside!" Mangetsu called out as he entered the cabin.

"Someone should also search the surroundings." His female teammate pursed her lips and turned her head towards Kisame. "Would it be okay if you searched outside? Since you have the strongest build out of us three and if someone were to attack us, you could probably stall them by yourself until we come."

He blinked. Why wouldn't it be alright? "I don't mind," was all that he said. What else was there to reply?

"Right." She nodded firmly to herself and followed suit into the cabin. "Just call us if you need help, alright?"

As they continued on with their hunt for the ring, Kisame would hear Mangetsu's attempt to flirt or tease Mei. Either she was completely oblivious to them or too focused on the mission, he didn't know.

* * *

"'Take it that no one found anything," Mangetsu grumbled out. "And when's sensei coming back? I thought she only said that she was going to get some grub, not a full meal!"

Kisame felt a pulse through Ditto's—he'll admit that he forgot that he brought them on the mission—hilt, but paid no mind to it, thinking that it was just that his companion was starting to get bored.

"We already scoured most of the area our client has travelled to." Mei furrowed her brows, opening up the map again. Kisame was starting to think that she might have better teaching experience than Hoshiko-sensei. "If we can't find his ring by then…"

And his katana started vibrating, doubling in their intensity when he continued to ignore him, until it produced a shrill sound. It was not as ear-splitting as the one they made during the exam, but still loud enough to catch his teammates' attention.

"Hey, Kisame, your sword's acting—" Mangetsu started, but was cut off by another voice.

"It wouldn't be this ring you bunch are looking for, would it?"

All three whipped their heads to the source of the voice to see a young man smirking, holding up a golden ring. "Such a lovely possession. I wonder how much I could fish out of this if I sell it." The team stayed silent and slowly assumed a defensive position as the unknown man continued talking. "Hm? And what's this?" He squinted at the ring, inspecting it. "Riku? A name as charming as the ring itself, wouldn't you three agree? And who would she be? Your mother?"

"Please, mister," Mei spoke up, a slight shaking in her voice, "could we have the ring back? It's something very important to someone we know. We could offer you something else in return." Diplomacy? Kisame didn't stop her from trying, but he honestly didn't expect the man to listen to her. And judging from her tense shoulders, he would say she was still on guard.

At least she wasn't that naïve.

"Offer?" He was seriously considering it? "And what would you be able to offer, missy? Money? If that is so…" He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "How about twenty-five thousand ryo? Higher than most prices I could fetch out of the market. So? One-time offer only."

She bit her lower lip, mulling over the fee. Personally Kisame though that it would be better if they would just fight the man for it. But from his completely relaxed posture, it was either because he was entirely confident in his skills or the man had no experience whatsoever. He would bet it was the former.

Ditto continued to produce a humming noise, albeit softer than the previous one, possibly indicating that the man wasn't alone.

"We'll do—"

"Terumi-chan! You can't—!" Mangetsu started, turning towards said teammate.

A burst of laughter caught them off guard, and they saw the man chuckling to himself, wiping off tears from the corner of his eye. "Oh man! You actually believed me? I could totally get a higher price by slapping a made-up legend about it and nobles will be all over it!" He shifted his gaze upwards and called out "Guys! These brats actually thought they could get this ring!"

Three others dropped down, each one wearing a clothing piece somewhere on their face. One around the forehead, another over the eye and the last one over the mouth. Only who Kisame assumed was is the leader, the one holding their target, had the face bare.

"Need help, boss?" asked the one with an eye covered. Well that confirmed one of his suspicions.

"Wipe out these punks, will you? Do whatever you want with them, just put on a good show, got it?" Their leader stood back, a good few meters from the upcoming battle.

Quite a dick move, he'd say. Not that he'd complain about having one person less to fight.

The ones with the covered forehead, eye and mouth took out respectively a kusarigama, a wakizashi and a pair of claws. His best choice would perhaps be with the one wielding the wakizashi, since he was the only one in the team who currently had any type of blade on them.

"I'll take the one with the headscarf. I'm pretty decent with mid to long range, and your blade wouldn't go that well against a chain. Claws wouldn't either, since your opponent could easily disarm you with them," Mei whispered to the other members of the team, eyes still trained on the opponents.

"Guess that leaves me with the cyclops, huh?" Mangetsu replied as Kisame nodded.

Seeing that the opponents still hadn't made a move and were only observing their movements, the two lunged at their corresponding foes. Kisame hadn't seen Mei going directly towards the headscarf man, so he assumed she was preparing for a mid-range to long-range attack.

Kisame met the masked one head on, clashing blades. He noticed at the corner of his eye that the one-eyed attempted to charge at him, but was quickly veered off by Mangetsu. He still didn't know what had happened to the third enemy, given that they were out of sight, but he needed to focus on his current battle.

It was currently only a matter of who could overpower who, both adversaries putting more and more weight on the swords. He had held his ground initially, having gained enough momentum from his charge and transferring it through the first swing. Despite that, his opponent gradually gained the upper hand, being the one with a stronger body build.

On top of that, both his hands were occupied, leaving him no space to perform any ninjutsu.

That certainly wasn't boding well for Kisame. Gazing up to the man's eyes, he got an idea.

It wasn't the best. It wasn't foolproof either; in fact, it would be the first time he himself would try something of the sort.

Nevertheless, it wouldn't hurt that much to try it out.

"Ditto," he hissed, his muscles starting to strain under the pressure. "Howl."

He did not know the name the sound had been given, if it even had one, but he couldn't care less at the moment.

As long as it did the job.

It was strident, it was deafening. Kisame was prepared for it, his opponent was not. Even then, he still slightly winced at the sheer intensity of the sound and the man flinched at it.

Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to catch him off guard. Oh, it wasn't enough at all. That technique was like a double-sided blade, it all depended on your capacities and your opponent's.

And that's when Kisame realized he fucked up.

His opponent hadn't lessened the force, just kept it constant for a second, before exerting more force. Kisame could have turned the tides in that brief moment, if only his sword was leaned just slightly further out.

The weight applied on the wakizashi was slowly pushing his own blade back, just on the brink of knocking it free of his hands.

Kisame needed to get out of that position as fast as he could. He channeled a good amount of chakra towards his feet and let it all out in one single, instantaneous burst, skipping back and kicking dirt up in his opponent's face at the same time.

He would rather lose ground than ending up with a diagonal gash across his torso, thank you very much.

Reaching the river (they spotted it a while ago while searching the shack), he continued on, water walking until reaching the center of it. Fighting a Kiri nin on water was basically asking for death, but then again, they were only genin and could have been underestimated.

Sparing a glance behind, he saw that he still had a few seconds before masked reached him.

Good. He replaced his katana in the scabbard, going over the idea he had in his head.

He quickly made a water clone before diving deep under and leaving it on the surface. Swimming was second nature to him, in such way he'd clearly have the terrain advantage here. As long as he could hold the clone long enough without the man noticing him underwater.

Finally reaching the stream, the man stalked forward, intent on finishing the battle up. So he was also capable of water walking. Not exactly surprising, but it was still useful to know.

Kisame watched the two combatants clash blades in succession as he formed hand seals. He would like to say he had all the time in the world, being able to breathe under water, but he was not sure for how long he could hold the clone before it burst.

Finishing up the last seal, he shot towards the surface of the water and thrust one of his arms forward. The man hadn't noticed him breaking the water surface before it was too late, too fixated on his water clone.

' _Water Prison Technique!'_

And that was it. The enemy was caught in his water prison, now helpless. All that was left was to drown the opponent.

Keeping in mind that he had to have at least one arm in the water sphere, he looked around. He spotted Mangetsu a few steps away, letting the body of one-eyed fall into the water and watching it sink down. Presumably dead.

When he finally noticed Kisame, he submerged himself in the water before resurfacing beside Kisame and offering him a lopsided grin.

"Looks like I wasn't the only one who thought of battling on the river huh? And we even both thought up of drowning the enemy!" he said, hands folded behind his head and curiously eyeing the water prison. "And you encased the whole body? I only bothered with the head. Show me how to do it someday?"

As Kisame was going to ask how did he manage a water prison that only trapped the head, a shrill scream tore through the air.

"Shit… that's where Terumi-chan was." Mangetsu shot a brief glance at Kisame before turning his head towards the sound. "The guy's probably already unconscious. Unless someone fishes him out of the water and gets all the fluid all of his lungs, he's done for."

He dropped the jutsu, and on an unspoken signal, they simultaneously made a break for the direction from which the outcry came from.

* * *

 **Would you look at that. Another chapter out. First mission, yadda yadda yadda. Words! Almost no Ditto! Unintentional Bleach reference! Fight scene!**

 **Though it's a bit... stiff. I tried, but again, fight scenes are not my specialty. Are they anyone's specialty? Is there someone out there who dedicates their entire life to write a perfect fight scene? Probably, this world is pretty big. If not, that's really a shame. Fight scenes are cool. And I can't cool.**

 **But yeah! During the mission, it'll probably be centered around Kisame, since Ditto can't really see what's going outside, apart from the sounds and 'ripples' he feels. You know, being in a sheath and all that.**

 _ivanganev1992_ : Your reviews are keeping me alive. Seriously, I can't express how much joy every time I see one. But to answer your question. For the first one, it'll come up at the right time. Maybe. And second one... well, I'll see if I could integrate it sometime. Maybe not in human, but I'll try. I'll try, and maybe something decent will come up. Maybe that would screw Kisame over. Maybe. Maybe not. Who knows?

 **And June is coming fast... Meaning more exams and projects to hand over! And you know what that means?**

 **Even slower updates! Yay!**

 **Yeah... At least this chapter is slightly longer...?**

 **Reviews and suggestions are always appreciated!**


	13. Advancing 3

I do not own Naruto, nor do I own Pokémon.

* * *

 _Kisame_

They both bolted for where Mei had been last seen, when the scream they heard suddenly stopped short, and the only noises were their footsteps and the slight rustling of the clothes.

Kisame muttered something under his breath and pushed more chakra into his legs, quickening his pace. No more than a few seconds later, he and Mangetsu burst through the foliage, finally reaching her battleground.

" _TERUMI-CHAN!_ "

She stood there, unmoving and staring at a single spot on the ground. At her name, she looked up and cracked a small smile. A small, strained and most likely forced smile. Not that Kisame would point it out; he shouldn't pry if she doesn't tell them on her own choice.

"Hey guys." Now that he noticed, she also seemed tired, an inkling of hollowness in her eyes. "So I take it you two also finished up your battles?" The two male teammates nodded, and she continued on, "Then we should probably find the leader again. He still has the ring." She turned her back to them and walked towards where Kisame assumed she last saw the one in charge of the three men, a slight limping in some of her steps.

"Wait!" Mangetsu called out, grabbing Mei's shoulder. "What about you? Are you hurt?"

"You know, it's not because that I'm a girl that I get injured easily," she huffed out good-naturedly. "I'm fine. Just a few bruises and scratches here and there, but it's to be expected. You two also look alright to me."

"Then what about the scream earlier?"

"Oh, that…" Mei looked away and closed her eyes. "I planned it to be a killing blow, but I missed and ended up burning— _melting_ —half of the enemy's face off. He was shrieking and he…

"He started clawing at his face, and I just wanted it stop, for him to just _die already_. So I dragged him down into the earth and ended up suffocating him." She let out a quiet sigh before reopening her eyes. "We should get moving now, or we'll lose track of the ring."

"You should rest for now." To their surprise, it was Kisame who spoke up. "You need it, and even if they're only scratches, it hinders your walking and it might become a liability. And I might have a… way to find our man if we did lose him."

Mangetsu and Mei both looked at him, a small look of incredulity on their faces. Mangetsu opened his mouth, closed it again, repeating the action before settling on opening it to talk. "Oh wow. And here I thought that you were a—"

"Looks like my henchmen just weren't enough to take you three punks down, huh? And they were pretty decent. What a shame, don't you think?" And that man was there again, standing before them with that infuriating smirk of his.

"Why am I always the one interrupted?!"

"It makes great dramatic entrances." Realizing what he said, he coughed into his fist and cleared his throat. "Ahem. Forget that, If you would. Since you three managed to take them down, you should make an acceptable challenge. Let's dance!" He then drew out two daggers, the edges reflecting off the sunlight.

As the man charged forward, Kisame noticed a small awkward stagger in the way he was running. Did he somehow injure himself? Or did he just trip on an invisible obstacle?

Either way, he took out his own sword and formed a water clone while Mangetsu liquefied himself. Mei readied herself by forming hand seals, and Kisame could feel the heat gathering around her.

He jumped out of the way the moment a stream of mist was expelled from her mouth. The man stepped aside leisurely, avoiding a jab from Mangetsu at the same time.

Kisame swung his katana downwards, aiming for the wrist.

The opponent parried the strike with one of his daggers, sending him a cocky smile. "Try coming at me harder, will you? Kicking off with a boring start won't get you anywhere, hm?"

Kisame narrowed his eyes. The man wasn't taking them seriously.

He blocked another blow from the Hozuki, effortlessly maintaining dominance on both side.

Hands burst from the ground and the man leapt away, swiftly retracting his two daggers and escaping being burrowed deep underground as well as making both male teammates stumble towards each other.

"Sly little fox, little missy! You'll have to try harder if you want to get me!" Useless chatter. No need to pay attention to it.

Kisame caught himself before he would lodge Ditto by mistake in Mangetsu's forehead and turned to face the grinning thief.

"Go try something else, punks. Like going all out or something. I'll be waiting~" the man cooed, slumping himself against the trunk of a tree.

Now that's just asking for a death wish. They might only be a team composed of children genin, but they were nonetheless _shinobi_.

And letting one all the time to plan during a battle is seriously asking for trouble.

Mei surfaced from the ground, putting herself in between her teammates. "Looks like he'll be giving us the time to formulate a strategy to take him down. Any ideas?"

Making sure to keep the man in his field of sight, Kisame voiced his thoughts. "We know that a simple distraction won't work. He's powerful and agile, so we won't be able to take him down by engaging him head on."

"I have an idea." The two teammates turned a curious towards the Hozuki. "If you manage to keep both his hands occupied, I might be able to cut off his breathing with a clan technique." He held his arm out, clenching and releasing his fist. "I need to get close to him without getting hit, or the technique will disperse."

"If we have no better plan," Mei pulled out two kunai, the curved edge enabling them to put up a decent fight against short blades. "Then I'm all for it. I'm no close range specialist, but it'll do. Kisame?"

"Right." Kisame formed two water clones and readied himself to deliver a blitz. Water clones might only possess around a third of the user's initial strength and were easy to pop, but they were nonetheless useful. And it's not like he didn't have any chakra to spare.

And it was at that oh-so convenient moment when the man decided it got too boring to wait any longer, and stepped forward, his ever aggravating smirk plastered on his face.

The man spoke loudly, the intonation in his voice clearly giving off a mocking vibe. Kisame paid no attention to the jarring comments. He didn't need any distractions as of now. Only concentration.

* * *

 _Mei_

When Mei asked Kisame, it was only to confirm that he agreed with the plan, not to request for extra support. But that works out too. She won't decline supplementary help, already that she was more of a ninjutsu specialist and less of a hand-to-hand specialist.

Might as well make a water clone of her own. Her chakra reserves weren't as large as most genin, but she still had a larger one than Mangetsu. Not that she couldn't practice to develop it, but it would be better to not deplete too much of it in one go.

And talking about Mangetsu…

They might be good neighbors and might have known each other for a few years, but that still didn't give him the permission to call her out in the morning—when it hasn't even reached daybreak! And that fool even knew she was the cranky type of morning person.

What an idiot.

But she shouldn't be reflecting on her teammate's utter stupidity while a battle was currently ensuing. That could be disastrous, and she didn't feel like dying today. Maybe some time after marriage, but not today. Definitely not today.

They struck the opponent all at once, but even that only made him falter slightly, the slight wobble in his leg being the only indication. On top of that, she realized that the man was wearing arm guards as well as shin guards, and had an excellent equilibrium, if being able to take the full brunt of two genin plus a few clones' hit with not only his weapons, but also with various parts of his body, including one of his legs.

But that let him vulnerable to a third member's attack. Hopefully. If not…

 _Focus, Mei, focus on the fight!_

What was Mangetsu doing? She and Kisame were presently locked with the opponent, and one false move could make any of the three lose balance, including the two members of Squad Four.

So it's a no-go. Better safe than sorry, they say.

They also say 'talk about the devil and he'll be sure to come'.

And he sure came at a convenient time, emerging from under their feet and encased the man's head in a lump of water, all the while sporting a victorious grin.

"You lose."

Mangetsu, you drama queen. At least he did his job.

They stood still, waiting wordlessly with bated breath. Blades were still interlocked with each other, bubbles were slowly escaping from the thief's mouth. After a few moments, his eyes rolled back and his body relaxed, completely easing the strain put against Mei's own daggers.

"So… Can I let go of the guy now? It kinda feels weird having a head in your arm," Mangetsu said, wiggling the sphere of water to prove his point.

Wait.

That… was not actual water, but his bodily fluid?

She shuddered inwardly at the thought.

 _'_ _Does that mean every time he uses it, he's indirectly giving a bear hug to his victim and integrating them into his body temporarily?'_

As long as she was not his next target, she was all right with it.

"If nobody's gonna answer me, then I'll take it as a yes." He dropped the technique, letting the fluid return to his arm, and the body collapsed to the ground.

Though the thought of it was slightly odd, being able to detach a body part and move it independently could prove to be useful in more than just one way.

Mei stared at the corpse and breathed out a sigh, relaxing her grip on the handles. Somehow, she had the feeling that it all went by too fast, that there was a catch somewhere. As if the man was only playing dead, and was waiting for an opportunity to strike.

And that was enough to put her on guard.

So Mei continued staring at the body, slowly inching towards it. At a close enough range, she tentatively nudged it with her foot. When she received no response, she outright _crushed_ the left shoulder, hearing it squelch and feeling the snap of a bone under the her heel. The body still remained unmoving. Satisfied with the result, she pocketed her kunai into its assigned pouch and relaxed her stance.

Mei could have aimed at the head, but that would have been messy. Brain matter would have splattered about, and blood is just a _pain_ to clean off clothes. So she chose a cleaner option, to target somewhere covered by clothing.

Still… something just felt _off_.

Despite her guts screaming that _no, that man's still alive and kicking and is waiting for you to let down your defense like a predator playing the prey_ , she brushed off the feeling, listing it off as just paranoia caused by the nervousness of her first mission and crouched down beside the body. Precautions be damned today.

Mei extended her hand to rummage for the ring, when a movement at her left caught her eye. She whipped her head towards it, just in time to see a figure slam into her.

She gave out an indignant cry, but stopped short as she realized _why_ exactly she got tackled by Mangetsu.

The previously presumed dead man had already leapt on his feet and was hastily exchanging blows with Kisame, who was doing his best against the two daggers. Somehow, somewhere, his teammate had procured himself a second katana to even out the handicap he would have had. Maybe her brain was playing tricks on her by dint of the hits she received on her head, but she swore that the first sword was slightly longer than that. And that the guard didn't have a gem encrusted in it. Or that the hilt was of a different color.

But trivial matters aside (because she couldn't care less about the swords' appearances right now), she should get up to give Kisame a helping hand. Now the only problem was…

"Mangetsu! Could you _please_ get off of my body?" Mei half-whispered, half-yelled, attempting to wiggle out of under his body weight. "We kind of need to assist Kisame right now, seeing that we already hadn't had much luck with charging in three versus one without strategy."

Those blades were possibly covered in paralytics. Now, she might not be a poison mistress, but she could recognize basic symptoms easily enough.

"As much as I would like to stand up on my own," he replied, forcing out every word strenuously, "I can't move my body correctly. As in, I'm unable to control my movements. So you'll have to find a way out of your predicament alone… Losing consciousness on this side..."

True to his word, he soon crumpled with all of his glorious watery muscle mass across her abdomen. A little awkward position, but nothing much she couldn't get out from. Just to get the arms free and shove the obstacle away…

And there you go! One hindrance out of the way. Now Mei just had to drag his body out of harm's way before joining the battle. They were still teammates, after all. And teammates look after each other.

Now that that's also out of the way.

Finishing off with a ram seal, she expelled a thick pearly-white mist, shrouding the area in it. Kisame should be able to navigate through it, but the thief? Tough luck there. From what she's seen, that man shouldn't be a shinobi, despite having a high pain tolerance. That said, they will still have field advantage with the jutsu now in effect.

Why hadn't she thought of this earlier? It would have been much easier this way and they might have one less unconscious Mangetsu and one less possibly hallucinating Mei.

 _Get a grip, Mei! Go help Kisame instead of dawdling around!_

The auburn-haired kunoichi steeled herself and channeled chakra to the soil, turning it into fine sand and letting herself sink in it. She would have preferred staying at a good distance away and relying on the few ninjutsu she knew of, but the situation at hand wouldn't give the opportunity. Her accuracy certainly wasn't the best at the moment, and with the mist to top it all, she rather not risk having the chance to hit Kisame instead of the opponent.

That would get her in quite the predicament, already that Mangetsu is currently out of commission.

Now to position herself under both combatants, and get the timing right for the first strike. Again, accidentally blasting out of the ground right beneath Kisame would probably impair both of them, and getting in the way of one of the man's assault could bring up less than favorable results.

Being skewered to death was definitely considered in the less favorable results.

Attempting to bury him up to the head had already failed, so Mei decided on a pincer attack. With the partner not knowing about the pincer attack. And with the the enemy having exorbitantly fast reflexes and probably able to take on all three genin on their teams at once.

Yeah, the plan had a few flaws in it, but hey. It was better than nothing.

 _And… Now!_

Mei shot out of the ground behind the man's back, a kunai firmly gripped in her hand, another one already thrown at his neck. As if having already seeing it coming, he deflected the incoming projectile with his arm. The blade sliced into the fabric of his shirt before deviating, revealing the arm guard underneath it.

Now that she noticed, the man had only one of his daggers left and seemed to rely much more on a leg than the other one.

Huh. And Kisame managed to accomplish that in the span of the time in between her casting the jutsu and after coming out of the ground. While at it, Kisame had indeed only one katana in hand, and perhaps crashing on the ground earlier made her see double for a moment.

If Kisame achieved that in the small amount of time given, then they might be able to push the foe farther until he hits his at two.

Two heads are better than one, they say.

* * *

 _Mangetsu_

And wasn't this slightly inconvenient. Actually, it was more than _slightly_ inconvenient, given the fact that Mangetsu just lost all motor control and was now lying on the ground like an abandoned potato sack in a barren desert.

Wasn't that just wonderful. On the brighter side, he hadn't truly fallen unconscious and his five senses were still working just fine, so there's that. On the not-so-brighter side (excluding the whole 'he-couldn't-move-anything' situation), he was face flat in the dirt and couldn't discern anything apart from pitch darkness.

Fun, wasn't it? If Mangetsu would be to blame anything for it, it would probably be that cut he received on the arm while trying to shield Mei. It wasn't all that deep, but deep enough for it to be still bleeding even now. He had this funny feeling that it might get infected if he doesn't do anything about it.

But with his luck, it just had to be in the middle of a battle of his first mission, all the while being incapacitated. Not to mention that he didn't have anything that could treat an infection as of now.

So that left Mangetsu with… what could he do? Mull over his past actions and regret ever being born? Heh. Not that he had anything to regret about until now. Safe for that one time his actions led to Mei kicking him down a ditch.

Actually, he didn't regret that one time. Not in the slightest. And as hilarious as it was to entertain all those moments, he was still paralyzed and the thought of staying in that state was starting to irk him. Not that it didn't previously, just that he was growing bored. And he had low tolerance for boredom.

And how would dear Terumi-chan react if she found out he was (unintentionally) slacking around?!

So this wouldn't do. This wouldn't do at all. And certainly never in a such dire situation!

...Hm?

What might this be? A phantasmagorical being? An ectoplasmic entity? An elusive singleton?

Kidding. It was just his chakra. Chakra that he could still manipulate despite being stripped of all motor movements.

And wasn't that great news! He could resort to chakra to do whatever he had to do!

Except that he didn't have the hands to form hand seals. He had them, but didn't _have_ them. Get the meaning? No?

Anyhow. That's hardly important. What was important now was getting out of this oh-so embarrassing situation. Now… what jutsu could he use without moving his limbs?

What indeed…

…

 _Hydrification technique_.

…Wasn't he a moron at bouts. Even if he wasn't. He refuses to acknowledge his ever present slowness at grasping easy to come ideas.

The Hozuki wasn't pure geniusness, but he wasn't idiotic either. He was just more… visual than most. Images would stick better than words. Diagrams and graphs were way easier to comprehend than a wall of gibberish text. Or maybe that was just him.

By the bye, Mangetsu realized that he could manipulate any foreign substance within his body while being in a semi-liquid state.

Which was awfully convenient, seeing that he located the toxins causing the paralysis, and waggled them around. Somehow, he was pretty sure that was not how anything should work, but hey, he was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. And also, chakra. Because with chakra, you can heal people, walk on water, spit fire, generate lightning and much, much more, and it was apparently completely normal. Mangetsu was not going to complain or question it, but he'll be damned if he was the only one bewildered by the unnatural nature of it and that humans shouldn't exactly be entrusted with such destructive force.

Also with the fact that children here were trained to kill, and with the graduation exam to take note of, death was all around, even amongst the younger ones. Wasn't the way of the village just sickening?

Then again, he and his clan were capable of liquefying themselves and never judged it as odd, and he had no qualms murdering strangers for the sake of the village. Hypocritical? Maybe, maybe not.

But back to business, because having a face full of dirt wasn't the most comfortable experience.

Mangetsu rounded the poison to a single spot, and _kami_ wasn't that a weird feeling. It wasn't all that simple either, for they were pretty much scattered all in his body. Just cluster them together, shove it into the left arm and try to detach it from your body before they can leak out the rest of the organism again.

And voilà!

In mere seconds, Mangetsu regained control of his body, some parts still numb from the aftereffects of the poison. He hoisted himself up and gazed longingly at the puddle of not-exactly water infested with whatever was coating that dagger, and back at where his left arm should have been. Temporarily trading an arm for freedom of movement seemed to be a good deal at the time. Still is, seeing that he got most of the paralytic out of his body without having any outside help and he was still battle-ready.

So that was a thumbs up. He would say two, but his other hand is lying on the ground, not quite in a solid form. Just a plash of… whatever he's made out of and some poison.

He'll make note to come back to retrieve it later. No matter how he could convince himself he was an independent sublime being who needs no help, an arm was still important. So was the hand, mostly for shinobi purposes. How would he be able to cook, let alone complete hand seals with only one arm? Losing it would be the utmost tragedy, indeed!

Mangetsu should direct his attention to the small raging battle some distance away, if the racket coming from the anomalous mist would be anything to go by. Before he would join in for the fun, however, a strange glint caught his eye, the object in question lying not too far away from his current position.

He picked it up and inspected it. A grin slowly found its way to his face, and things might have just upped a notch.

 _Oh, things ought to become interesting from here on._

The one thing left he had to do before reuniting with the squad would be to actually _get_ there without faceplanting. Losing the privilege of having two arms really screwed up his stability.

* * *

 _Kisame_

The next few moments came out blurry. Blades collided, jutsus were thrown about, attempts to drown another here and there. And the midst of the chaos, there was also the narrowly avoided friendly fires, one nearly cutting off a teammate's hand off.

The fact that everything was also overlaid by a thick blanket of mist hadn't help too much. It was an advantage to Kisame and Mei, but the mist would sometimes make it troublesome to sidestep some of his teammate's jutsu at point blank, most of them dodged in just the nick of time. He actually got hit by one once, and _boy_ , she wasn't holding back with the intensity. The steam only barely grazed the surface of his cheek, yet now he was left with a nasty burn, albeit small, and the now cherry-red flesh still stung.

With that said, they were still faring much better than a few moments ago, now with the man forced to go full-on defensive instead of the alternating offensive-defensive he previously employed. It was still quite the feat for him to still be able to hold up with them, him being out of breath with only one of his blades left and being pressured from two sides.

As he prepared to deliver a heavy blow on the man's turned back, a rush of water suddenly emerged from the ground, somehow… cutting deep into one of the man's calf? And then the jet just fell back down to the ground, as did the thief?

Kisame blankly looked at the puddle on the ground, a dagger by some means smack dab in the middle of it, then at the struggling adult pinned down on the floor by his female teammate, and then at his own katana in his hands. The help was definitely appreciated, but… what? For a second, he would have guessed it could have been Ditto demonstrating his abilities, but in view of the fact that they were nested in the palm of his hands, that theory didn't stand strong. But then…

Oh.

Well, that could work too.

A white top peaked out of the puddle, and the half of Mangetsu's head then followed suite, leaving the rest of his body in a liquid state. He swept his eyes across the field, taking in the surroundings, before locking his stare on the man's body.

"So, the guy's dead yet?" Mangetsu asked, eying it suspiciously.

Mei looked up from the body lying on the ground and turned to Mangetsu. "Still breathing, but definitely out of commission now. Hopefully."

To everyone's shock, the thief barked out a laugh, especially startling Mei, who was standing right next to him. "Out of commission pretty much sums up my current state, alright. So hear me out, will ya? Since you defeated me with the power of friendship, the hero has destroyed the beast and yadda yadda yadda, you get to hear my sappy backstory."

The squad remained silent and sent him looks to urge him to get over it. Except, that would have been the case if Mangetsu, who was now back to full body, decided to butt in.

"Hey! How come he gets to talk after getting sliced by the thing while I don't? I call bullshit!"

Wait. Something looked askew. As if something was missing.

"Language, little rascal. And look. What kind of villain—depending on the perspective, I could also be a hero, I guess—would I be if I didn't at least develop a slight resistance to my own poison? A lousy one, I would say! But moving on— Shit! What the fuck happened to your arm?!" Right. Mangetsu's left arm was missing. So that was why something seemed amiss. And he currently doesn't have the energy to deal with it, so questions on that will have to come later. On top of that, Mangetsu himself doesn't seem to mind, so his situation couldn't be that bad.

"Anyhow. You don't seem concerned," there, he muttered something about shinobi before continuing on, "so I'll get on with my epic tale of my life.

"See, I was this poor little boy in a poor little village. Skip some stuff, and I have this adorable twin. In all seriousness, he's like the sweetest thing in the world, too bright and too innocent for this stupid bloody hell of a world and he recently fell ill. Did I also mention that he was blind? So I had to be the one setting off on this grand quest. Not that my 'crass' personality—just quoting my brother here—would be any help.

"Other stuff happened, found some people willing to accompany me on my adventure. They're probably dead or knocked out cold, considering they haven't come back. Really a shame, they were nice guys… Life isn't all sunshine and rainbows, isn't it? I also ended up broke. So I then needed to find a way to pay a doctor for my him _and_ come back with not so empty pockets after paying the medical junk. Found some things, sold those things, still needed more money. Then came in the ring, and you don't need me to explain the rest, do you?" he finished off, slightly wheezing towards the end.

"And… damn. I can't believe I'm asking this to a bunch of nitwits. Could you…" the man then dropped his voice down low, either because he was ashamed or he was just approaching a possible black out. Both as the same time could also be a possibility. "Could you three just make sure my little bro won't randomly pass away? H-he could tell you the rest… Owns a little artifact shop. M-impossible to miss…" The man finally succumbed to unconsciousness, not even providing them with any names of anything or other beneficial information.

They did learn a bit of his backstory, so that wasn't too bad.

All of a sudden, Hoshiko-sensei dropped down from the treetops, landing directly on the senseless man's gut section, posing after her landing. And judging from the lack of sound of bone cracking or flesh squelching, Kisame will assume that she used chakra to cushion the fall.

"Greetings again, my band of munchkins! Glad to see you're still in one piece! Well, not accounting for him," she pointed at Mangetsu, "of course. In fact, I have retrieved your not-so-arm and encased it in some ice!" She produced a long thin tube made of what Kisame assumed was ice, filled with a certain fluid, which had a few particles in suspension. She balanced it on her index before stashing it back into her sleeve. "But you won't get it back right now, since I have forgotten to bring anything to treat the poison with. Oh, don't make that face! You'll get it back later on. Maybe back at the village or something."

She turned her back to the genin and took a deep breath, before cupping her hands around her mouth and shouting something intelligible, the only word Kisame had been able to make out being 'four'. He, along with his two teammates, had to cover up their ears at the sheer intensity of the shout in fear of bursting their eardrums.

Realistically speaking, it wasn't that loud, but still loud enough for it to carry across a good distance away. Not deafening, but surprisingly resonant in the forest. The sound of it echoed through the woods, and a serene look somewhat un-Hoshiko-like found itself on her face as she faced them again.

It took a moment before Kisame registered what had occurred just a while ago. From battle, to the man's complete personality twist and odd request, to this. Even then, he only stared up at his sensei, and then back at the body in either astonishment or disbelief, he didn't know.

Mangetsu seemed to have abandoned the idea of figuring out what had transpired in the past seconds. Or was it minutes? Or even hours? Kisame highly doubted and hour has passed between the start of the first duel and the end of this one. His white-haired teammate sat down on the ground, lied down on the ground to look up at the sky and released a slow and lengthy sigh, as if lamenting his existence.

Mei laughed weakly and let a little smile flourish on her face, obviously relieved at Hoshiko-sensei's sudden appearance. Now that he looked closer, Mei's body was lightly battered and a few shallow cuts could be seen on arms, some still red and sore from the previous battle.

Hoshiko-sensei, on the other hand, still looked as unscathed as she was before the mission. She crouched, still on the man's body, and began searching him, patting and snaking her hand in various spots.

Kisame simply watched the whole scene unravel.

Hoshiko-sensei then gave out a cry of glee and brandished the prized ring in the air, holding it between her fingers in a manner that let the sunlight bounce off of it, making it shine harshly and possibly blinding Mangetsu.

"I found it! I found our client's wife's maybe wedding ring!" she started off, pure joy laced in her voice. "And—! Oh wow, now that I really look, you guys don't look so great. Except maybe for Mangetsu, if you overlook the whole 'I'm missing an arm' thingy. What happened while I was away?"

Kisame was about to tell her about the three battles that ensued after they had found the leader, when Mangetsu abruptly sat up and pointed an accusatory finger to her. "Where were YOU? Not only did you leave us for the sake of food, but you also left for kami knows how long! You had all the time to get a snack and come back BEFORE we almost get killed."

Said sensei raised both her hands up in defeat, trying to calm the boy down. "I did get myself a snack, but after finishing up and getting ready to rejoin you guys, I think I got a bit of an indigestion and had to…" a sheepish smile played on her lips and she rubbed the back of her neck, "um, relieve myself? Ah, yeah. Mhm. Yep. Just had an upset stomach and had to, you know, flush out the stuff. And it took more time than I expected."

Kisame was starting to form a theory that Hoshiko-sensei might just be a child trapped in an adult's body. And who's acting more or less awkward about it.

"Still," she carried on, "point is, we got what we wanted, and no one died, right? Explanations about your current sorry states could wait until we finish mission objective, I guess. So let's get a move on! Sun's beginning to set, and our client is probably figuratively dying of jitters and melted into an anxious rambling puddle!

"But before we do that," she hefted up the man's still body over her shoulder. "I'm going to do something about this guy. Meet you at the client's meeting point!"

She then stalked off towards the sunset, leaving the dumbfounded group of genin behind. Mangetsu perked up and ran up to Hoshiko-sensei, who still didn't stop walking when he tried talking to her. So enough, both teammate and sensei's figures became but two little dots, carrying on with their one-sided conversation. And if you looked closely enough, one could make out that Hoshiko-sensei was intentionally speeding up her pace and was now bordering close to a sprint.

Seemingly snapping out of some sort of trance, the two who were left hurried along, back to the small town.

* * *

 ***Squints in the distance* Is this an update I'm seeing? I think it's an update.**

 **Well, here's more first mission stuff, and still scarcely any Ditto. He'll come back later or so. Also, exams have been kind of tiring me, so you might have noticed my writing getting sloppy as of late and there might be mistakes here and there as well as incoherence in the story.**

 **I have abandoned on fight scenes. Those things are a hell of a thing to write. I have also changed up a few things, notably the cover page (made in art class while testing out watercolors) and the chapter names. And since my naming skill only goes as far as Ditto's own, well... you know, not that good chapter names. But hey, words.**

 **Until next time, I guess.**

 **Reviews and suggestions are always appreciated.**


	14. Advancing 4

I do not own Naruto, nor do I own Pokémon.

* * *

 _Kisame_

Back at the small village, Kisame and Mei watch as the client flung himself towards Hoshiko-sensei, the thief they previously encountered nowhere to be found. Surprisingly enough, Mangetsu was lost in his own thoughts, contrasting his usual frisky and teasing behavior.

"Ooooh, thank you thank you thankyouthankyou _thankyouthankyou_ _ **thankyo**_ —" Hoshiko-sensei's outstretched arm was the only thing blocking the sniveling client from barreling into her and letting the snot dribbling down his nose from her clothes.

"Okay bud. Slowly breathe in and out, remember you have a wife. Wipe your nose— h-hey! Not on my sleeve! That's disgusting!"

After recomposing himself, the client led all four of them to a small teahouse not too far from where they first met him. "A thousand thanks for returning my wife's ring! This shop is owned by her, isn't it just lovely? And—"

"Shinichi? Didn't you say you weren't coming back later this week?" a delicate voice resounded from behind the group. There stood a frail-looking woman with her teal hair pinned up in a bun, clutching at a tray in which various cups and a tea pot sat on.

So the client's name was Shinichi, and Kisame will assume that the lady is Riku, Shinichi's wife, if the name engraved on the ring was anything to go by.

"And are those shinobi? Are they…" who Kisame presumed is Riku trailed off, looking straight at the team. "Oh! Where are my manners, I still haven't introduced myself! I'm Riku Nakahara and this is Shinichi Kozu. Welcome to our teahouse, shinobi-san," she finished off in a bow.

"Right. Manners." Hoshiko-sensei jerked her thumb at herself. "Yuki Hoshiko," she pointed at the currently grinning genin who was back at his normal routine, "Hozuki Mangetsu," then at the auburn-haired kunoichi who rolled her eyes at him, "Terumi Mei," and finally to the shark-like boy, who was fiddling with the hilt of his katana "and Hoshigaki Kisame."

Civilians, in Kisame's opinion, were generally unnecessarily problematic and difficult to deal with. Most of Kiri's, for the least. They were squeamish and would fuss over the smallest of things, not to mention they always found a way to get back at someone, no matter how insignificant the matter was or how ambiguous the ethic of their ways were.

But for all that he knew, he could be wrong. Kisame tended to stick to infrequently used roads and alleyways, preferring to avoid the population. After all, his looks often attracted prying eyes, garnering him more than enough negative attention.

Riku swept her gaze over Squad Four's various members as their sensei announced their names, until at the last one, where she pinned her stare on Kisame. He fidgeted uncomfortably under her scrutiny, cursing his genetics having given him his more animalistic characteristics. It stayed so in that manner for a few moments, an awkward silence settling itself in the room as the intense stare continued lingering on Kisame.

It was… unsettling, to say the least.

She advanced towards him, every step as clear as they could be. Kisame braced himself for what might happen, either be a verbal or physical lash out. Civilians, even the brightest ones, have already shown to be able to be deceitful and shameless.

Riku raised her hand…

And pinched his cheek.

 _What._

"What a cute boy you are!" she cooed at an _extremely_ bewildered Kisame. No one had ever shown such flagrant display of affection on their first meeting with him, much less a civilian stranger. The woman then proceeded to ruffle his hair, obviously enjoying herself. "And your teeth! Did you file them down or are they natural?"

"They're… I was born this way," Kisame managed to stammer out, still startled by her course of actions.

It was only after that his sensei decided to save the day along with his cheek, now starting to throb from the lady's death grip. "Hey, uh… I think you're scaring my student. Like, big time. Probably not a very touchy-feely person and his personal space bubble just got popped."

Riku then blinked owlishly at him and her face flushed bright pink in embarrassment. "Oh! I didn't even ask for your consent. How terribly rude of me! I must profusely apologize for my unprofessional behavior, Hoshigaki-san," she went into a deep bow, and didn't budge from her position until Kisame muttered out an 'It's alright'.

It wasn't that Kisame despised physical contact, it was just that he was more than slightly uncomfortable and awkward around it. Being isolated and singled out as an aberration early in your life might have a similar effecst.

Though he would admit that having human company who did not care about his abnormal appearances was nice from time to time.

"It's getting dark outside," the merchant mentioned, glancing outside the shop. "We have some spare rooms on the second floor, if you want to stay for the night. I mean, you don't necessarily _have_ to live here for the night and we're not trying to gain a favor, it's just that maybe you four would be tired after the day and it would be a good idea to rest up before returning to the village?" his words hastened towards the end with him making exaggerated motions with his arms to try to convey his point.

"That would be awesome! What do you say, minions?" Of course, the team agreed, taking the opportunity to rest and relax and not wanting to have to travel all the way back to Kiri in the darkness of the night. They depart right away and sleep in the forest when needed and arrive sooner back to the village, but who would pass up the convenience of having a bed on your first mission?

The couple only had two spare rooms, and Hoshiko-sensei divided them by gender, much to Mangetsu's chagrin. Must have wanted to spend more time with Mei.

* * *

"Again, a thousand thank you's for finding my wife's ring!"

"And you four will always be welcome to come back at our teahouse! Have a nice day and stay safe!"

Decidedly, these two weren't too bad. The squad could come back one day, or he could visit them when he'll be able to take solo missions.

The trek back to the village went uneventful, save for Mangetsu's chattering and Hoshiko-sensei's occasional remarks about the few birds that would soar over their heads.

Kisame wondered how Ditto was currently doing. He had a few things to discuss with them after they signed into the village, back in the comfort and privacy of home.

* * *

 _Ditto_

It was boring, but also exciting. Contradictory, but who cares? It's not like anybody could hear his thoughts _(_ _ **I'm still here!**_ _— Well, anybody from the outside, at least)_.

Admittedly, he had transformed into little animals Ditto had seen since his arrival in the Land of Water during the few nights, indulging himself in his urge to just _explore_ anything worth or not exploring. Staying completely immobile for long periods of time could make just about anyone with a love of moving restless. As long as no one witnessed his transformations, he should be able to keep trouble at a minimum.

Currently, as Big Blue was strolling back to Kiri, Ditto could feel the slightly bent section of his blade. Those blows he received during his partner's fight were nothing to laugh at; he was even convinced that he would have snapped in half at some point from the intensity of the hit.

At some point during the walk, Ditto entertained the idea transforming into a bladed Pokémon, let's say a Honedge or an Aegislash, to see if the damage would transfer to a normally sentient being. He went against it, of course. Who wouldn't? Not only would the blade burst open the scabbard he was presently confined in, but it would also alert his teammates and teacher. Not to mention that Honedge's were known for their temper, and he would not risk accidentally sucking out his life source.

That would indeed be awful.

 _(_ _ **Awfully awful I'd even say!**_ _— You sure are on fire today, aren't you? —_ _ **Just stressed.**_ _)_

He had also considered that concept during Kisame's battle, but also decided to not enact that plan at first. First of all, the shock that Big Blue would experience of having a weapon transform in the midst of the fight would make a great opening for the opponent. Second of all, sword-Ditto had felt another presence up in the trees, and he wasn't sure if they were ally or foe. They did feel familiar, hence he must have met them once. Third and finally, he did give his word to Big Blue that he wouldn't cause trouble and stay in a single shape.

But then Kisame's team got separated in the middle of the fight, and he was left to fend against the opponent singlehandedly. Already three versus one, they were already fighting on a losing side. On top of it, the adversary wielded two blades, from what sword-Ditto felt, having a clear advantage over Big Blue, who had only one, albeit longer and possibly sharper.

Against his better judgment, he had decided to use his ability to prevent the possible outcome of his friend's death. It wasn't that Ditto didn't trust his swordplay skill—Ditto was actually impressed at the dexterity the shark-like kid showed with a sword—, but it was that the opponent had _two_ blades, not to mention had a higher speed than Kisame did.

 _(It might have jeopardized my promise to him, but if I just twist the words a bit, I wouldn't have broken that promise at all. A close call, but it will be still maintained._

…

 _Man, I sound like a jerk.)_

So Ditto did what a Ditto could do. With a little twist this time.

He had a project of his own which he started working on a few years back, way before his arrival here. A custom move derived from his signature attack. He named it 'Partial Transform' _(I might not come up with the best names, but you must admit that they're efficient)_ , and as it implies, the move involves an incomplete transformation which gives him the freedom of having several partial transformations in place instead of the standard one full, perfect alteration of the whole body.

It was useful in more than one way, from the simplest, often overlooked features _(You have no idea how useful it is to be able to talk without the use of proper vocal cords)_ to abilities that could decide the outcome of a death match.

Though there was a catch; the technique was still in experimental stages. It still had a few inconveniences, namely fusion compatibility or having it backfire, both leading to completely cancelling out the move and leaving him in a pile of goo and stunning for a good few seconds.

And those few seconds could make all the difference in both fight or flight situations.

* * *

On normal occasions, Ditto wouldn't be willing to risk it in any positions presenting any form of danger to himself, much less on a battlefield of all things.

But circumstances were different, and Ditto had found himself a friend and potential travel partner when the shapeshifter had wandered too far from home and had no _Arceus-damn_ _clue where he was_. And that one friend was dangling between life and death, and _are children here supposed to be fighting for their lives in their daily lives_?

 _(Culture differences sure are apparent at this point.)_

So he weighted the consequences of the three options he thought up of on the fly and settled for the second one, _double or nothing_. Because, well… it's split or goop. Doublade fusion or no blade.

 _(I ended up choosing a Doublade simply due to them naturally having two split bodies, as well as having the characteristics of a sword. Pretty useful, huh? Well, only useful if I can actually_ succeed _the partial transformation.)_

And the timing _had_ to be perfect in order for Kisame to be able to recover from the confusion at the sudden transformation. Too late or too early might end up with a Kisame sporting some nasty and probably fatal injuries.

 _(And I'm not sure if I would want any more friends getting hurt because of my stupid mistakes…)_

In short, sword-Ditto had chosen the moment Big Blue leaped back in order to put distance between both combatants to enact his hazardous plan. He had only given out a single pulse in forewarning, before directly proceeding to the scarce steps he had instructed himself upon.

A second worth of time later and a startled Kisame struggled to gain grasp on both resulting hilts, but manages by a hair by the time the foe closes in. Close call, but as long as his partner wasn't dead or traumatized for life, Ditto was totally fine with it.

 _(Or not, since killing at young age could probably lead to some mental repercussions, but hey, Big Blue just slaughtered a whole classroom of children not that long ago and doesn't seem to question it, and wow,_ **culture differences** _.)_

And the battle ensued, just as it was supposed to. Mei later on joined in the fray, diffusing energy all around them, and Ditto will admit that she got him confused and disoriented. Hard to locate anything by sensing while having a presence overlapping everything and his echolocation-mimic would provide the feedback delayed from real time.

Ditto had caught the word 'mist' being thrown around and assumed it to be the energy blanketing the area _(Oh, the wonders chakra can do! And I'm still not all that convinced that I also lug this mass of chakra inside of me)_. Making use of that distraction as a cover, he reverted back a single unfused sword sending out the same aforementioned pulsating signal, with Big Blue this time somewhat more prepared for the in-battle transformation.

The fight continued and ended just as it should have, all members of the team still alive.

 _(Sometimes, I just wonder; does fate exist? Are all of our actions predestined? Do we actually have a choice I in any matter? —_ _ **Whoa, never knew you were interested in that kind of stuff**_ _— Curiosity. I love asking myself questions.)_

* * *

Now thinking back, there probably was a better solution than that. But no dwelling on past mistakes! Learn from them, remember to not repeat them, and then bury them deep, deep in your mind where nobody could find them.

Moving on.

Seeing _(More like sensing, I would say. I don't even have the eyes to see right now —_ _ **SHUSH CHILD, IT'S JUST A WAY OF SPEECH**_ _)_ that nothing especially thrilling would take place in the next hour or so, sword-Ditto resolved himself to memorize the ripple patterns of the team. A nice way to distinguish allies without having to use sight or smell.

 _(Or hearing, but I'm not sure how you could differentiate people with sound. Maybe breathing pattern? Weight of the footsteps? Voice? And with taste? How does that even work? So many questions, man...)_

Ditto had already committed Big Blue's pattern to memory quite some time ago. A calm and smooth flow, but terribly overwhelming and massive. It was easy to look over it after one got accustomed to it. Similar to attempting at heaving up a mass of heavy rope to look under it without getting tangled up in it.

Just a matter of getting used to.

Mei's ripple was much more active. It would oscillate in intensity at intervals, but stayed consistent for most of the time. Her's felt warm and pleasant, somewhat akin to standing close a radiator in the heart of winter.

Mangetsu's was… well, it felt gelatinous. Akin to the feeling someone gets when poking a cube of jelly. Like a sinuous waterfall not quite made out of water, if that made sense _(It really doesn't, but I'll just go with it for the sake of it)_. A free flowing stream that doesn't always have a regular not-water output.

And then there's Hoshiko. Ditto couldn't always get a good read on her; the ripple would sometimes change in shape, size and texture. The one that stuck out the most would be a smooth surface, constantly warping and churning. It's… erratic, if he would describe it in a single word.

It's confusing, but the shape shifter felt like he was missing something vital. Whatever it was…

If it was that relevant, he'll recall it sometime later. Maybe not now, but sometime. Probably when that information will be worthless and ineffective.

Maybe it'll come to mind if he occupied himself with some other business or matter.

But alas, Ditto still lay rested in the sheath, with nothing better to do other than mulling over his thoughts _(Don't get me wrong, I LOVE walking outside and roam the land. It's just_ slightly _less interesting when you can't see anything. I have sensing and limited echolocation thingy, but I still can't see colors. And_ that _sucks big time)_.

Kisame had gills, didn't he? Are they functional? Is he actually part shark? Does he accidentally cut his tongue while eating sometimes? The Jerk also had sharp teeth. Maybe they share a common ancestry? Though the teeth are the only physical trait they share. And being insanely strong for a human doesn't seem to be that uncommon here, so there's also that.

Actually, where is _here_?

Ditto had already questioned himself many times over that, but it all came back to only Kiri, Land of Water, Elemental countries, somewhere really far from the regions he was acquainted with.

Welp, looks like he won't be giving the Old Fossil a visit anytime soon. He'd probably have to apologize to the age-old living relic the next time he sees him. Ditto said that he would come visit every few years or so, and if he counted right, this year would be the sixth one away from Kanto.

Talk about unfortunate, eh? Stumbling upon a mad _(Maybe? Not sure, but he seemed pretty nutty to me)_ scientist and ended up travelling through a _(Hypothetical. Again, not sure, but what else could I use to explain it?)_ wormhole and ending up in this Arceus-forsaken place where Pokémon and humans appear to have merged together.

At least Big Blue and the Jerk _(As much as he scares me, he's still a good training buddy)_ were here. At least he wouldn't be alone in this mess.

At least there are more areas to travel to and mess around with!

 _(Always look towards the positive! Because or else you'd probably bore yourself and not get the motivation to do anything. Which isn't good in my position, considering that I'm usually on the move. Not saying that pessimism won't get you anywhere; it just makes the trip less enjoyable.)_

And once again, Ditto drifted off into his own thinking, not that content around his uncertain answers and surveying the surroundings from time to time. It stayed so until the sound of a party horn snapped him out of his internal more or less relevant might be gibberish ramble.

What has Big Blue gotten himself into now?

* * *

 _Kisame_

The team nearly reached the village gate when Hoshiko-sensei abruptly whipped out a streamer from of her outfit's many layers and _aggressively_ blew into it, startling the three genin. Talk about being unpredictable.

"Congratulations on the formalization of Squad Four!" she exclaimed, scattering colorless confetti into the air and letting them slowly flutter to the ground.

Noticing the puzzled looks on the three faces, she huffed and looked them over out before explaining herself. "Well, Squad Four wouldn't be a squad or four if anyone of you died on that mission wouldn't it? And none of you backstabbed each other, so safe enough to say that we could consider ourselves as a team. So what do you say?"

"We're totally cool now?"

"It was supposed to be a _rhetorical_ question, Mangetsu," she whispered out, quite loudly and emphasizing on the word. "But that said, I'm planning to do something with you guys in a day or two. Two would be better; it lets you some time to rest up. Meet me then at the training ground. I'll show you something _fun_. It would be a shame if any of you would miss it. So don't be late, got it? Latecomers are not tolerated and will be kicked out! Literally. I'll personally punt you out of the field if you do," she ended with a sickly sweet smile that definitely looked out of place on her face.

Kisame himself repressed a shiver and nodded once, making note in the back of his mind to always arrive without delay to any assigned places.

The next few moments of the walk were spent in quietude, save for Hoshiko-sensei's soft humming.

Of course, the silence was broken by Mangetsu, though Kisame paid no mind to it.

' _I wonder, what's the Kid been up to during my absence? Aside from beating trees and maybe people up. Or terrorizing them.'_

* * *

"Now, mind explaining what happened back then?" Kisame asked, his tone serious and gaze hard, like a parent berating their child.

Back home, they both sat opposed to each other, the shapeshifter now in their dog from. It seemed like Ditto favored it over the others while still in the village. 'Convenient to get around with even if it deters their prehension ability', they once said. In a different and unnecessary lengthy wording, but that pretty much summed it up.

Ditto then looked at him straight into the eyes and just _stared_. Kisame started fidgeting on the spot after a moment, suddenly very self-conscious (more than usually, for the least) of himself. It wasn't just a stare like the one Riku gave him; it was a _stare_ that peered deep into your soul and as if they knew all his deepest, darkest secrets.

He really, _really_ hoped that wasn't the case.

But he maintained a leveled look; he wouldn't lose against a dog of all things in a staring contest until his dying breath. That, and he needed answers.

Ditto finally tore their gaze away, preferring now to lock their stare on a single spot on the ceiling, apparently finding it much more interesting than his eyes. Not that he minded, the prolonged stare had been getting slightly disturbing, their unblinking eyes not that much helping the situation.

"Well, you're not dead, for one," Ditto said as starter, "and well, for two, you specifically said to keep out of trouble before your mission, not stay in one form for the entire trip. And by extent, that also means keeping _you_ out of trouble. And by trouble, I mean more or less mentally stable and not dead."

"But what if someone saw you?" Kisame hissed, obviously displeased at his partner's sudden change during the previous battle. "You might have thought the others were too distracted by the fight, but what if someone did and the Mizu—!"

"Lookie here, Kisame." Ditto looked back at him straight into the eyes and narrowed theirs in… anger or frustration? "All _you_ had to do was to not rush head first alone right into the opponent who was obviously stronger and faster than you were. I wasn't the one who recklessly charged in a fight knowing well that the foe had advantage over you. _I_ wasn't the one who charged in without formulating a plan or waiting for your teammates to at least _try_ to tag team him or—"

Ditto then cut themself off, raking a paw through their hair—or the tuff of fur resting neatly on their head—and heaving a sigh. Taking that as an opening, Kisame used it to interject his own opinion on the matter.

"I could have taken him down by myself, I'll have you know!" Kisame had bristled under the silent accusation of 'you were evidently weaker than him' and as small as his ego was, he still prided himself on his strength. He was about to retort again to prove his point, but his canine-shaped friend was already at the door, now ajar, most probably having stopped listening to him.

"You know, it's getting really late. Maybe you should go to sleep or something. Be back by morning." And they simply padded outside, before closing the door quietly.

Kisame was still seething; couldn't Ditto just let him speak? Couldn't he just hear him out? And—

A traitorous yawn escaped his mouth, and his eyelids did feel heavier than usual.

As much as he wanted to deny it, maybe sleep _was_ a good idea. And it certainly wasn't because Ditto had mentioned it.

Another yawn.

Yeah, sleep sounded rather appropriate now.

* * *

 _Ditto_

How idiot could the kid be?! Did Ditto seriously just argue with someone about _why in the name of Arceus he prevented the possible death of his first potential travel buddy_?

He silently fumed, shuffling in the vicinity of their home, still as a dog. Sometimes, taking a walk outside could help him calm his thoughts.

Other times, not so much.

And plus, what was this village's problem? Ditto still couldn't fathom the idea that the leader—never mind the way the village was ruled by sounded like a military dictatorship—would send out _kids_ of all possible people to such dangerous places to risk their lives.

Then again, that was only a single mission, so his belief might be biased. But then there's also the fact the graduation certificate came in the form of an all-out slaughter of one's classmates.

 _(Cultural differences or no, that shit's messed up. I get it that maybe it's a way to produce stronger and firm ninja, but still! There might be some difficulties cementing loyalties if the student starts suspecting the village, and the method, from my point of view for the least, is just vile and twisted. Wonder who came up with it? Was it actually Yagura, or was he simply the one who implemented it?)_

Whatever Big Blue's reasons were, had Ditto actually needed an explanation for his actions? Weren't they already pretty much obvious why? Did he actually need a reason why?

Trying to save a friend from being stabbed or sliced or gutted or whatever-that-weapon-could-have-done to him was self-explanatory. It wasn't all that difficult to understand.

Or maybe Kisame was just tired? Yet he—!

Soon enough, he found himself barking up trees and chasing after the occasional roaming rodents. _(_ _ **Blowing off your steam, huh?**_ _— Shut up.)_ He would also find himself avoiding any form of humans, and the surroundings of Big Blue's house was the perfect place for him to roam about. Civilians seemed to avoid the abode like the plague, the homeless usually stuck to the gutters and the likes during this time, and shinobi had no specific reason to come close.

Oddly enough, venting his anger through the form of a little dog did most of the job of appeasing his mood.

Reflecting on their little spat, Ditto could compare both of them to petulant stubborn children not willing to budge from the position they were standing for.

Still, Ditto though maybe Big Blue could have at least tried to understand. What would he have done in the same position? Sit back, relax and let everything unfold by itself? Yeah, no. That wouldn't be happening again anytime soon.

What else, completely transform into a giant Pokémon and body slamming into the man? Like that would draw less attention.

Time flew by faster than he had anticipated, and only around one hour was left before sunrise. And if Ditto recalled right, Kisame normally woke up around that time.

He looked up at the clear sky, little dots of white shining in the dark abyss.

 _(_ _ **That sounded kinda cool, if not horrendously cheesy, you know?**_ _— Thanks…?)_

' _The roof'_ , he thought decidedly, _'wouldn't be a bad place to stargaze.'_

* * *

Dawn broke, and Ditto could sense Big Blue's chakra stirring up. Should he wait at the door?

But that might give Kisame the impression that Ditto would admit that he was wrong, and really, saving a friend isn't the wrong choice. At least, that's what he thinks. Unless that friend was a truly terrible being not deserving the right to live.

 _(I might still have done it, since, well, friends. No matter how many lives you've slaughtered or ruined, as long as you're my friend, you're totally cool to me. Maybe not_ totally _, but you get it. And strangely, that reminds me of a certain dragon. Then again, Pokémon morals are kinda screwed and practically nonexistent amongst a few._

 _I mean, most of them might care for their close friends or family, but beyond that? Not really.)_

So Ditto settled on waiting him on the roof and maybe barking in that blue face of his and 'accidentally' drop a few drops of drool on his hair. The shapeshifter was guilelessly spiteful like so. No one shall escape his petty wrath.

He poised himself at the edge of the roof, right above the main entrance of the house. He felt the curl of a devious smile starting to form.

' _Now, we wait.'_

Just as the door opened, an idea sparked in Ditto's mind _(Change of plans! I'm feeling in the mood for it!)_ and—

Big Blue stepped out and looked warily around, possibly seeking him.

—jumped off from the roof, aiming directly for the head.

Kisame, of course, caught wind of it and warded off the mock-ambush with his arms _(If he didn't, I would've been seriously disappointed in him)_. "H-HEY— Ditto? What gives?!"

And in response, Ditto only cackled and bounced off of Big Blue before sprinting away.

* * *

Ditto sent out a weak burst of energy to confirm that yes, Big Blue was still following him, and probably won't stop giving chase anytime soon. The race would have undoubtedly ended earlier if his pursuer knew where he was heading to. But he didn't, so Ditto allowed himself to take many detours, just to amuse himself.

Plus, this could technically count as endurance training.

He took a sharp turn towards the left. The Assembly Field shouldn't be far from here.

If he had heard right, Mangetsu had mentioned the whole team could have a small friendly get-together of some sort on that very same field. And as expected, Big Blue was daydreaming and his teammate's words entered through his ear, only to exit through the other one.

The path Ditto was taking was an indirect route to the training ground, greenery blocking its passage. The actual entrance to it was located on the opposite side, a path of dirt and pebbles leading straight to the clearing.

But mere trees and bushes were no match for Ditto.

He burst through the foliage in one mighty jump, just in time to see Mei grabbing Mangetsu's arm and flipping him to the ground with a glorious thump. Ah, young love.

 _(Though as a genderless Pokémon, I really couldn't care less about it. I mean, whether I'm a month old or a century old, my appearance will remain the same and well, love. Erm. I'll just say I have no interest in finding a mate just yet. Adventure calls, you know?)_

The two tussling teens halted in their actions in favor of staring at the newly emerged grey canine. It wasn't long before Big Blue followed suite, looking positively murderous, cutting off anything the other two members of the team would have said before they could even speak up.

"You—!" Even without having to sense, Ditto could very well perceive a not so cheerful aura surrounding his partner. Did he forget to mention that he had drenched his puppy paws in his own slobber moments before pouncing on Kisame?

Yeah, it might be a good idea to sprint away now.

"Huh," Mangetsu interrupted, still sprawled across the grass with Mei sitting atop of him, "never knew you had a dog."

Before Kisame had the chance to retort whatsoever, another boy walked into the clearing, not making much effort to sound inconspicuous.

The boy simply shot a look at the tallest currently in the area and at the dog attempting to sneak away, and all attention was directed back at them.

All eyes swiveled towards the duo, and Ditto could hear Kisame groan.

* * *

 **Whoa, an update who's for once not (that) late?**

 **Well, it's pretty much a filler chapter, but it did turn out somewhat unexpected. I hadn't implemented the little argument at first, but it then came out just like that, and I went 'why not?'**

 **So there you have it.**

 **(Also, I'll be going overseas in a week or so, and won't be able to work on the story then. I don't think I'll have access to any writing device aside from pencil and paper, much less the opportunity to publish another chapter. So I'll be gone for around one month.**

 **I'm not yet the Excuse Overlord, but I'm getting there.)**

 **Reviews and suggestions are always appreciated!**


	15. Unseen

I do not own Naruto, nor do I own Pokémon.

* * *

 _Kisame_

Of course.

Of course, out of every location Ditto could have lead him to, it had to be this one. On top of that, his teammates were, for some dark obscure reasons, wrestling for dominance on this very field. They grappled each other, pulled hair, kicked dirt up, bit the other, and used basically any tactic available to them. There was no such thing as 'playing fair', only the unspoken rule of 'no ninjutsu allowed'.

Really, they looked just like angry little pups trying to assert power one over one another.

(But he wasn't all that different from them. Merely more reserved and not all that keen around physical contact.

And looking back a few years, he could say that summed up his early childhood fairly accurately. Fighting in the streets to show the others he was better.)

Meanwhile, the shapeshifter was slowly slinking away from Kisame, presumably to attempt to escape once again. And he certainly wouldn't take that shit from them.

As he was about to call Ditto out before they could get away, stupid, _idiot_ Mangetsu just had to open his mouth.

"Yo! Finally decided to join us, huh? Took you long enough," he said, all the while struggling to escape Mei's grasp, who was currently pinning him down.

As to not be disrespectful, Kisame nodded in acknowledgement at the two, even though he had no idea what was happening. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a dog's form at the edge of the clearing, and as if sensing his stare boring into the back of their skull, they turned around to face him.

Seeing the indignant look resting on Kisame's face, they opened their mouth and—

—gave him the closest shit-eating grin a dog could manage and promptly bounded away, out of his view.

 _Damn it, Mangetsu._

The onlookers followed his line of sight, watching the canine disappear in the greenery.

Call it a hunch, but Kisame was certain that Ditto was holding back some sort of more or less important information just to peeve him off. While on the subject, Kisame should probably—

"Uh, Kisame? Still with us?" Mei's voice snapped him out of his thoughts and Kisame instinctively straightened himself. "We've been asking you if that's your dog. You seemed rather fixated on it. And by fixated, we mean aggressively staring at it as if it had broken all the rules dictated by the universe."

Kisame let his eyes trail back to where Ditto has been last seen one last time, maybe hoping that they would emerge once again from the wooded area. He made a sound at the back of his throat, glaring at that one spot before turning back to Mei. Incidentally, she was now back at in a dignified standing position, rearranging her hair, whereas Mangetsu lay sprawled out on the grass once again.

"Not exactly mine, but more of a stray, I guess. They just decided to follow me around one day and stuck with me for a while, so…" Which wasn't lie, and reasonably close to the exact situation. Actually, why did they even approach him at first? Ditto told him why they chose to stay with him, but not why they decided to reach for _him_ of all people at their first arrival here. Wouldn't it be safer for a dog to go see someone… who looked more _normal_ or _natural_ instead of someone who seemed to have been reared from half-fish progenitors?

And off to the other problematic concerning the shapeshifter; Ditto's current behavior. Kisame had pegged them as the type who would rarely hold a grudge at first, but he now realized he might have made a small mistake in his judgment.

At least the most they did until now was to pester and frustrate him. Nothing big or hurtful. Just… trying to annoy him.

(How irritating that it's working perfectly.)

"So your dog basically just dumped—?" Mangetsu started, but was immediately cut off by someone else.

"Kisame," a voice that belonged to neither of his teammates said.

Right. He almost forgot about Zabuza, standing a few steps away from the squad and watching everything passively through disinterested eyes. The younger boy then looked to both his teammates and directed a pointed stare back to Kisame, silently urging him to explain something.

Kisame massaged his temples, more than just slightly bothered by this ordeal. All he wanted was to catch up with Ditto and find out why they had been avoiding him today and get a few answers, and maybe apologize for yesterday. He let out a breath before answering the Kid's question that went unsaid. "Alright. Kid, those two are my teammates. The one with the white hair is Mangetsu and the other one is Mei. You two, the kid's named Zabuza and he's pretty much my training partner."

Mangetsu gave the newly arrived a once over, taking in his features before propping his chin on his arms, not bothering to actually sit up. "So you're Zabuza, huh? Never knew a scruffy kid like you could keep up with our big guy here. I'm a Hozuki, by the way," he said, offering the Kid a lazy grin accompanied by a half wave.

Before anyone could respond or rebut with whatsoever, Mei clapped her hands together to gather all three boys' attention. "Introductions made, let's get to the whole point of this little gathering." She then shifted her eyes to Zabuza. "You can stick around with us, but you might find this a bit boring for you."

The academy student merely nodded and walked away.

Well that was certainly a way to make his decision known. Never was one for—

Wait, no. Squinting at the retreating form, Kisame realized that the Kid only retired to retrieve a bag of some sort, before heading back towards the assembled genin.

"I'm staying," he announced curtly, choosing to stand closer to Kisame, a worn bag slung across his back.

Kisame eyed the Kid with an amused expression. Being wary of strangers was a useful trait to possess as a shinobi, but watching an eight-year-old act that way around his teammates was just silly.

He could almost call it cute. Almost. After all, it was Zabuza he was talking about.

"So now that everyone's here, we can finally commence!" Mei declared, an eager smile spreading across her face. Funny how Mei looked to be the youngest, yet she seemed to be the type who would always find the best path of action in tight situations.

"Assuming whatever Hoshiko-sensei had planned tomorrow consisted of training or something similar, I propose we take it easy today. I was thinking along the lines of maybe—" And she was cut short by an _oh-so-familiar_ bark, and Kisame's head snapped towards the source of the sound that resounded in the clearing.

"Your mutt is calling to you," the Kid helpfully provided, as the attention slowly shifted to the canine.

And said canine's eyes danced with mirth, taunting him to give chase. For now, he simply resorted on giving the simpering pup the stink eye.

' _Not now,'_ he thought, _'but soon.'_

And Mangetsu, seemingly noticing Kisame fuming on the spot and glowering at the one particular spot in the trees, decided to propose his own idea for the time being. "How about we go see what Kisa-san's dog has to offer? Since he looks pretty insistent on it and all. Maybe it's his long-lost lover turned into an animal or something."

And that was his cue to go.

Barely registering the last few words spoken by his teammate and completely ignoring his newly assigned nicknamed, Kisame darted forward in a burst, aiming straight for dog.

Much to his vindictive pleasure, the pup's face (somehow) visibly paled and hightailed away from the field, to the open roads. Kisame hesitated but only a fraction of a second before advancing. He had never been a big fan around open spaces, exposed to all the stares of the passersby, but from this morning and all the other occasions, he trusted Ditto to stick to the less busy streets and alleyways.

Looked like even their past episode, they still cared about how he felt around anything.

* * *

 _Ditto_

Even as Ditto tried his best to shake his pursuer off, taking sharp turns and passing slinking around the narrower alleyways as if they were obstacle courses, the blurring blue mass behind him just wouldn't relent, nor would he crank his speed down even by half a notch.

And if Ditto focused just right, he would in fact realize that Big Blue was speeding up, now joined by the addition of two familiar patterns.

 _(I swear they're going to end up doing a hefty amount of property damage. And I won't be the one paying for, that's for sure._ — _**Not that you had any to begin with.**_ _)_

Go straight ahead, take another right, jump on a trash can and tip it over because he can, straight ahead again and…

He cheered silently, jumping out into the open street. It was relatively bare compared to the others, both civilians and shinobi, as well as the homeless, rarely wandering across this area for some particular reason. Maybe was it the lingering smell of sulfur and garbage juice paired up with other foul indiscernible stenches?

Maybe.

And while on subject, he's starting to feel queasy from the putrid odor, every step taken pushing him closer and closer to regurgitating what little content was in his stomach. Meaning partly digested grass and fish tails.

Dog-Ditto risked a glance behind him to confirm that yes; the squad was still on his tail.

 _(You make horrible, horrible jokes._ — _ **But they're hilarious!**_ — _Just to you, not me… Out of everyone, why do I have to be stuck with you?)_

And since they're still following, he might as well lead them there. The more the merrier, as we say, right? It might distract the three too excessively dangerous—probably far past the safe limit—kids, giving the shapeshifter more time to flee the nearing shark boy and plan another sneak attack or find out what makes his partner tick. In the utmost safest manner possible, of course; he surely wouldn't want to injure an active and on duty still budding ninja, or shinobi, as Big Blue had insisted. And he had also been planning on showing this place anyways, so two birds with one stone, that's what it was!

The only problem was actually _reaching_ the destination before they caught up, and that proved to be harder than Ditto had first thought. Underestimating an opponent because of age will probably lead to his downfall one day or another. Or would, if he could even die.

 _(Gee, breach of privacy much? Though one thing I would like to add is the fact that I had probably found a way to eradicate my existence back then, but wimped out at the last moment._ — _**Talk about contradicting oneself.**_ _)_

Focusing back on the task at hand—or paw—and determined to make it before the squad did.

He gave one more mute cry of glee as a small building, standing out from its bleak surroundings, came into view. Ditto shot a victorious grin at the blue teen, who merely raised his eyebrows, staring at something that was clearly not a running animal.

And dog-Ditto barreled straight into something. More precisely, some _one_.

The currently-as-a-dog-and-formerly-a-blue-puddle gazed up to the person. The living obstacle oozed of oppressive energy, gaze hard and arms crossed.

He gulped.

Resistance surely would be futile by now.

* * *

 _Mangetsu_

Mangetsu let out a low whistle as he watched Kisame speed past the various houses and shops before abruptly taking a turn to the right. He knew breakups were hard to deal with, but he had never thought Kisame would take on so hard. He would have thought his teammate would be more of the type to possibly mourn the loss of a good relationship for an amount of time and simply move on. Or completely ignore his ex if said person or dog tried to taunt him.

He looked over to Mei, the beauty still staring at the spot Kisame where he could be found on mere seconds ago. The Hozuki couldn't blame her; it _was_ the first time they saw the squad member lose his composure—over a canine of all things—since their first meeting.

"So, Terumi-chan!" begins Mangetsu on a cheerful note, before dropping his tone by a few notch. "Are you all right? You seem a bit… shaken up."

Mangetsu knew he really shouldn't be cracking jokes at this moment, but the occasion was too good to pass over. He watched Mei's tremulous form still at his words, and thought that maybe it would have been best if she remained oblivious to it. From what he had observed, she was likely in a fragile state of mind, regardless of what she tried convey.

(Zabuza was now nowhere to be seen, most likely having left them from boredom. Maybe he went to train? If Mangetsu wasn't wrong, the next graduation exams would be coming in a few months or so.)

"I… I'm fine," she started off uncertainly, and then repeated herself in a firmer tone. "I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

The boy sent her a look speaking volumes and revealed his current thoughts on that statement, but nonetheless decided to reply back. One can never be too sure, especially if aforementioned one was a shinobi. "Mei," he stressed, and they both recognize the importance in the tone, "I don't have a care in the world about what you feel like sharing with me and what you feel like keeping to yourself—I lied, I totally care, but it's not important right now—but please, just _please, don't lie to me_. And not just me. Kisame too, and I'm sure he noticed too, but decided to not pry."

At that point, Mangetsu was only vaguely aware of his death grip on Mei's silent sobbing frame. Blinking a few times and coming to the realization of it, he fumbled to get the right words out, anything to comfort her, because _he just made Terumi-chan cry and she's obviously upset about the whole situation for some reasons_.

"...And, um, you should know that we'll always be here, so, uh, you can always come to talk to the whole squad if you have anything," he stammered out, his jumble of word vomit coming to an end.

Much to his relief, Mei had stopped crying sometime in between his nervous rambling and was preoccupied by drying her tears in between hiccups. Although Mangetsu couldn't read her expression, her head tilted as so her bangs would shadow her face, he could reckon his longtime friend felt at least marginally better than she did just a few minutes gone.

Feeling the gloomy mood having retired itself, he offered a small smile, one which she returned wholeheartedly.

"Enough dilly dallying!" shouted Mangetsu all of a sudden, startling Mei in the process. "I believe we have a runaway squad member to catch!"

As they prepared to take off, he gave Mei a wink, to which he received a light punch to the shoulder in reply.

' _Huh. And I still have no idea of what caused her distress. What a friend I am. Or maybe it's because she's still unsure of herself?_

' _Yeah, that should be it.'_

* * *

The three squad members and that one person in front of them were locked in a standoff, with only a small grey canine in between the two parties, all four (in addition of a dog) located in what Mangetsu would characterize as 'those few shady alleys kids shouldn't be in'.

Nevertheless, here he was, immobilized in battle stance and sweating bullets. Kisame had reached out for where his sword would normally be strapped, but his hand only met thin air. Mangetsu couldn't see his last teammate from his current position, and even craning his neck slightly seemed to be too taxing as of now.

The person twitched slightly, and his hand darted to his kunai pouch. Even if the opponent was way above his level of power, he still needed an object, a person, _just_ _something_ familiar to keep him grounded.

And just as fast as it had settled in, the pressure suddenly dissipated and they were free of movement once again.

"And _that_ , my minions," said the mystery person, "is what we call killing intent, or simply KI for the lazy bums out there."

All three genin's posture visibly relaxed at the voice conceivably belonging to a certain clan jounin.

Mangetsu had to edge to the side to confirm that _yes_ , the terrifying stranger had in fact been their sensei. From his initial spot, all he could have seen was Kisame's back and the canine, his blue team member's body covering most of her silhouette.

"Give us quite the scare, would'ya, sensei? A warning would be nice next time…" muttered Mangetsu quietly. And apparently not quiet enough, if the blatant glare sent by none other than said sensei was anything to go by.

Choosing to ignore the boy's comment, Hoshiko spoke up, grabbing the pup by its scruff in the process. "Never expected to see you squirts here. And, well, while at it, I told myself I could show you something useful, and that," she gestured vaguely with one of her arms, "happened. Also, anyone familiar with this dog? Since you lot seemed to be chasing it."

And as if to prove her point, she thrusted the now slobbering canine directly in Kisame's face, throwing it to the mercy of the dog's tongue.

Mangetsu simply watched on as Kisame slowly pushed the furball out of his wet face, an expression swaying between annoyance and exasperation etched on it. He wiped his mouth to reduce the chance of any foreign saliva entering his skull cave, and just as the blue teen was about to retort with anything, sensei cut him off with a swift movement of her free hand.

(Hopefully she wouldn't make it a habit of her's.)

"Regardless of all of this, I have found this little dandy place for all of you three!" With a grand flourish, she turned on her heels and motioned to a worn-out ensign right above her head. "I suppose this is what our big boy was searching for? Or maybe it was just a coincidence."

' _RISING LAKE, Antique Shop'_ read the tattered wooden sign. And in the corner of his eye, Mangetsu could see Kisame sending the dog a pointed look, and said dog only responded with a sly smile.

The Hozuki's eyes widened by a fraction, but quickly covered his shock with a small comment, earning himself a flat look from Mei.

' _Could it be…?'_

* * *

 _Ditto_

And there Ditto was, face to face with Big Blue, and dangling from the arm of the squad's teacher.

Aforesaid Big Blue pinning him with a stare while Hoshiko flailed him with every action she took.

Meanwhile, dog-Ditto waited for the opportunity to escape from her grasp without arousing anyone's suspicion. Partly because wrenching himself out of an elite ninja with the use of brute force would most probably get him in a more than just problematic situation, and partly because he now had two kids to worry about instead of just one. Maybe one adult too, if she decided that chasing a small dog for funsies would be a good idea.

Arceus bless Mei, that sweet child. If anything, she was curiously eager to explore the small store and definitely _not_ getting the idea of chasing down a poor dog across the village.

 _(Worst to come, I could always just run away and leave a small note to Big Blue. After all, fleeing has always been my specialty! —_ _ **Should you really take pride in such a thing? People might take it the wrong way.**_ _)_

The only thing left was to make sure the squad entered the shop and interacted with the shopkeeper, and his current task would be complete. Or perhaps he could lurk in the shadows once he'd fled the scene, just to see how everything would unravel.

 _(Then again, I still have other plans in mind. Oh, choices, choices…)_

The abrupt loss of discomfort around his neck pulled him out of his whirring thoughts and Ditto realized Miss Star's _('Bout time I came up with a nickname for her)_ grip on him lessened momentarily, and he took this chance to make his grand escape. Act first, think and regret later.

He squirmed around in her grasp and managed to free himself just as the squad made their way into the small store. Before darting away, he peeked over his shoulder, only to see Miss Star shoot him an amused look.

' _I'm really getting more and more careless around humans.'_ Ditto exhaled a sigh through his muzzle as he made his way to the rooftop. _'And blaming it on this form's impulsive behavior wouldn't do much good. Though that's why I normally find myself a partner during my travels, hm?'_

 _(_ _ **Not that Kisame is helping with that. —**_ _Still, can't blame him for that. Plus, getting back at him is fun.)_

Dog-Ditto was now faced with two possible routes: either follow and eavesdrop on Squad Four undetected, or go back and finish some business.

The wind blew, and dog-Ditto was once again reminded of the sulfuric odor permeating the alley. His nose twitched once, twice. Perhaps heading into this back street as a dog hadn't been his wisest idea. Though on the other hand, transforming between the ambush and the chase was evidently a no-go. Having two overpowered children of dubious origins on his tail was already enough for him for the first few months of his stay.

The temporarily-as-canine let his eyes wander to where he and Big Blue resided. There waited his unfinished maps of the various sections of Kiri. They were still rough drafts, crude sketches that were not entirely proportional. By all odds still required to be tinkered on before Ditto tried to gouge his eyes out before the monstrosity that were unclean drafts.

 _(Not that I could actually gouge them out… They'd just turn into pile of goop after severing them from my head before being reabsorbed by my body.)_

Sending out a pulse to make sure he wouldn't be in range of anyone's vision, dog-Ditto let himself melt back into his original shape.

' _The answer would be quite obvious, if you ask me.'_

 _(_ _ **It wouldn't be for anyone not living in your mind, mind you.**_ _)_

The blue puddled reformed himself as a small cockroach, the antennas wiggling in excitement.

' _Take the one-time chance over tasks you could complete any other day!'_

And with that, he scurried back to the previous location, eager to spy on this band of oddballs without getting accidentally killed on the way. The blind shopkeeper wouldn't be able of much damage, but the kids and the lady…

He shuddered at the thought.

* * *

"...Oh, I must have mistaken you for someone else. Sorry for that." The man smiled sheepishly, looking at nobody in particular.

"Nothing to be sorry about!" grinned Miss Star, "That person must have been awesome if you would confound us!"

"Not really…" Realizing his mistake, he quickly followed his reply. "Not saying that you aren't, say, ' _awesome_ ', but it's just that we normally don't receive many customers and… Well, my brother told me he would be coming back soon, so I mostly reacted on a whim. Sorry again for earlier," he confessed, scratching the back of his head.

Ditto, now well positioned in the corner of the dusty ceiling, watched on as the three students clicked the pieces together and came to a realization.

And as always, Mangetsu _(Still need to come up with a witty nickname for him and Mei)_ was first to pipe up.

"So you're blind," Mangetsu pointed out. The tone wasn't accusing or condescending, just as-a-matter-of-factly. Did he either have no sense of tact or he would deliberately state them regardless of a person's possible reaction, Ditto didn't know. Maybe should he ask him one day?

 _(_ _ **And that, my friend, is what we call hypocrisy. —**_ _Not exactly my fault, you know.)_

Whatever the shopkeeper's reply was going to be, it was interrupted before it could even start by a not-so-subtle squeal originating from the youngest member in the room.

All eyes swiveled towards her, but the girl paid no mind to them. "Oh, I just can't believe my eyes! Is this really the Four Dragon Vase? I only ever saw it as paintings, but never would I have thought it was… Mister shopkeeper? Where did you find…" trailed off Mei, finally noticing all the stares on her. "Er," she squeaked out, "did I do something wrong?"

"Whoa, I never knew you would one of those nerds for dusty objects," breathed out Mangetsu after a small lapse of silence.

The shopkeeper broke into a pleased grin, saying that it wasn't all that common to find somebody who shared his interest and answered her question just before his little curious customer could retort both physically or verbally. Or both, really.

He then proudly narrated the epic tale of how his brother and his band came across a group of gravediggers and chased them away. The head of a small wandering clan, to thank them for driving off the offenders, offered the small golden relic as a thank you gift. According to the story, the opposing group had been powerful enough to hold against the best fighters of the nomad clan.

That fact would lead to three possible conclusions: one, that the clan was a civilian clan, e.g., a merchant clan; two, the brother's group had been way stronger back then; or three, that the story had been altered by one of the brother's to fit the heroic actions.

Ditto was leaning towards his second theory. Based on the very few facts he had gathered, the story took place a good few years ago, and the shopkeeper's brother, as well as the three accompanying men, had suffered from various injuries throughout their travels and the availability of medical assistance was scarce.

Just as the ' _Epic Saga of how my Brother and his Team Beat up a lot of Strong People_ ' was coming to an end, Miss Star interjected with her own quiet comment, obviously only to be heard by her squad.

Such a shame for a blind guy's hypersensitive hearing.

 _(Looks like I'm not the only one getting careless around here.)_

"See, one of the only reasons you three managed to kick his ass was because his left leg was pretty much eating itself," whispered out their teacher, huddled around the team, "A good part of it was already starting to decompose, still pretty surprised he wasn't stumbling all around just from walking."

Behind the four unaware ninja, the shopkeeper stilled completely, so that not even his clothes would move.

' _This could escalate into an interesting situation_ , _'_ Ditto mused to himself.

He clicked his mandibles, passively wondering if there would be other cockroaches around. Being stuck alone in a place alike could prove to become dreary, especially for insects such as them.

"You… do any of you know where he is?"

That single inquiry shut the hushed whispers. Four heads slowly turned towards the speaker, none of them expecting to be heard.

Or maybe Miss Star set up the whole situation to come down to this, seeing her clearly pleased expression. Perhaps she wanted to see how her students would handle similar situations? From what Ditto understood, being a ninja meant doing anything for the village, and killing was a necessity. Sometimes—most of the time, really—would involve slaying civilians or relatives, and they would occasionally have to deal with the consequences.

 _(You know… I think I'm starting to dislike the whole shinobi system. Not that I didn't before, per se. —_ _ **Culture differences, wasn't that what you always said? —**_ _Still! Kids having trauma! Kids dying because some higher dude wanted them to participate in a war! Kids having to participate in said war because they have no other option! Kids—! —_ _ **Culture differences. Nothing I can do about that. I don't own this place.**_ _)_

"Your brother might not be coming back from his… travels," Kisame hedged cautiously, knowing well that even the calmest and quietest of civilians could house the temper of a furious god.

The only factor preventing Mangetsu from being the first speaker was his female squad member covering his mouth with her hand, presumably to avoid risking an insensitive comment from the chatty teammate.

The room fell into an awkward silence, safe for Mangetsu's few muffled words.

No one moved, no one spoke.

Well, no one, excluding cockroach-Ditto, who scuttled across the ceiling to get a better view of the scene. No way in hell was he going to miss a confrontation in which he had no business in because of some dust-covered shelf obstructing his view.

From his newly acquired position, he noticed the shopkeeper's fists starting to tremble. Ditto would say it was probably caused by anger, but some other mental stress or an unmentioned disease affecting the muscles or the brain still remained plausible sources.

"Is he—" the shopkeeper started, deceptively calm, but his query was unexpectedly broken off by a series of cough, startling three students, along with one not-exactly-cockroach who nearly lost his grip on his platform.

Just as the shopkeeper's half-coughing half-choking coming to an end, Mangetsu finally managed to input what he had meant to say before. "Don't get the wrong idea, your brother's still alive and breathing! No need to throw temper tantrums or try to punch my teammates in the face or anything!" he shouted, finally out of Mei's grasp.

The shopkeeper winced at the volume, though his frame visibly slackened, suggesting relief or something of the sort. "I knew he wouldn't go down easily," mumbled the shopkeeper to himself. "So do any of you know where he is?" he repeated his question, while the two other students still in stupor of ' _how the hell does he know this'_ just stared at their third team member.

Their teacher, seemingly having had her fair share of fun, chose to step in before anyone decided to throttle each other. "By now? He's probably on a boat, trying to sail to wherever has proficient medic nin, skilled enough to perform whatever operations-slash-healing he needs. Probably won't be in fighting condition any time soon, but you can expect to see him in a year or so."

The shopkeeper leant on the counter, satisfied and doubtlessly reassured, and nodded to himself. "Now that that's cleared up, how can I help you?" he added, smile on his face.

The two uninformed students opted to openly gape at their teacher, while Mangetsu made small talk with the shopkeeper, both interlocutors sporting a small, easy grin.

"What's with those fish faces? It's not like the guy was a missing nin, he was just a low-key thug. I can do whatever I want with the sort, and plus, after the battle, the squirt over there" Miss Star pointed at Mangetsu, "begged me to let him live. So there you have it," she explained with a shrug of her shoulder.

Feeling the attention slowly being redirected to him and the stares drilling into his back, Mangetsu excused himself from the shopkeeper _(Count me impressed. Never knew he could be that polite)_ and whirled to face his team members.

"Before we get all serious and stuff, how 'bout we continue our friendly meeting from morning? Without physical violence? And not here?"

Before any of the miniature killing bio-machines could agree or disagree, their teacher stepped out of the shop, saying she had business to attend to and being late for it would be a big no-no for her.

Cockroach-Ditto crawled to the nearest exit—a small crevice located underneath one of the shelves—and jumped out into the open.

He'll also be taking his leave; he still had exploration and work to finish. A compass would be nice too. He would also add a sextant to that, but given the limited materials and the fact that he was unable to locate himself based on his previous maps and charts, the instrument would probably be near obsolete to its use. Ditto should also find himself a bag of some sort, to store his equipment.

 _(A Treasure Bag would have been the best, with it's illogically big inventory, but I'm quite certain there aren't any here_... _)_

Taking off into the air and shifting into a dog in mid-flight, Ditto landed on a roof and set out for his current home.

* * *

 **(Woops, did I say I would be away for a month? I meant one and a half. Maybe two. It was initially just one and a half, but then flight cancellations, Olympics and a drain that went kaput happened. Hopefully that drain will be fixed before the next update. Having to throw out all the water we use is kind of annoying.)**

 **Also, this is a chapter in which characters don't do as I wanted them to do, and another filler chapter kind of just happened. But that aside, we have breached the 50 followers milestone! Yay!**

 **(I think I should probably find myself a beta before I drown myself in incoherent ideas. Or maybe someone else could propose me one.)**

 _shugokage_ : Glad you like my story! I actually just make almost everything up as I go, so uh... thank you for sticking along! (I hope it stays interesting...)

 _4everfictional_ : [cha 1] Bingo! You're the first one to mention it, and no, they're not canon. Well, as far as I know, they're not canon. Er, I'm afraid I might reveal some spoilers if I continue writing, so I'll leave it so. [2] Yikes! I would say plot hole, but it's actually just my bad writing coming up. It's not much sensing, but of more hearing something he shouldn't be hearing... Sorry for that! It's (I think) fixed now. [3] Yeah... about those... I'm trying to make them _a bit_ less confusing now, but it seems like they still are... they're relevant to the plot, so I probably won't be removing those yet. And they say practice makes perfect! So it's not a characteristic as obvious as the face that's flawed, but something else. Small imperfections. (Haha, it's actually a pretty obvious flaw, it's just that I haven't mentioned it yet.) [4] Lo and behold, an omake written just for this! (And to atone for my lateness) [5] :D [6] It would still be suspicious as hell if a summon decided to leave their world at random and stick to a certain human. It could mean a lot of things, some worse than others. But thank you so for reading and leaving reviews!

 _Guest_ : Thank you! And don't worry, even if I have the updating pace of a snail dragging a boulder uphill, I'm not yet over with this story!

Oh, and here's a small snippet that didn't quite fit into the story:

 _( **Miss Star? Really? Couldn't you have based it on something else? —** Hey, it fits with her name, and, and, and_… — **_And with her personality, she could_** _ **…**_ **star _as a TV host? —_** _Arceus-damnit.)_

(Hoshiko means 'star child', and **_they_** were referencing to her family name, which means 'snow'.)

 **Reviews and suggestions are always appreciated!**

* * *

 _Omake: Dwellers of the Deep_

You see, I'm a total sucker for history, as well as old legends. It means new information, possibly new locations to discover and definitely new myths to bust! And even if the legend turns out to be total hogwash, they're still interesting to read about.

 _(There was this Pokémon that apparently had the ability to distort time and space, but it turned out to be two instead of one. And those two are part of a trio! How cool is that?)_

And… right! I was going to write about something.

That brings us to a cave, well hidden in the crooks of an unnamed place in Kanto.

 _-DotD-_

I had discovered this den quite some time ago, towards the beginning of my whole expedition around the world. I had found an old Kabutops deep inside, stashing away who-knows-what in who-knows-where. We were hostile towards each other at first, me being _extremely_ cautious around a Pokémon with scythes for arms and him being wary of me, suspecting I might ransack his territory. Over the time, we decided that we had started on the wrong foot and set everything anew, and _bam_ , friendship.

 _(Ditto friend count: 1)_

This old coot, as I discovered, was basically a limitless library of knowledge amassed from the various eras he lived through, from _'The times I was just a little Kabuto'_ to the latest news about a man who had found a way to turn people into statues.

Then came the time for me to leave the region, the adventure beckoning to me.

I would then visit him every few years, trading stories, anecdotes and silly tales about our lives.

One day, we spoke about new and extinct Pokémon species _(I was sure a saw a tear or two… or was that just him washing his eyes?)_ , which lead us to a completely new topic that I was once oblivious about.

 _(Okay, maybe not_ completely _new since I have heard the word being thrown around at rare occasions, but that was all.)_

 _Animals._

The Old Fossil, as I enjoyed calling him, explained to me the existence of a believed to be extinct branch of species. They used to cohabitate with Pokémon, until the day they one by one started to fall, possibly due to an unknown infection _(he also suspected it might had been a mass genocide, but it didn't make much sense)_. It also begun to affect the flora, and soon the situation had escalated to where only the most resilient herbivores managed to survive with the scarce vegetation and carnivores had to extend their means of subsistence beyond their normal diet, destabilizing the ecosystem.

Animals and Pokémon started to prey on each other to survive. And by reason, the Pokémon, having higher strength and intellect than the average animal, rose higher and higher in the food chain. The animal species started to dwindle down, and approached a near complete extinction.

Over the decades, centuries, and possibly millenniums, Pokémon and animals both evolved and branched out into different, more adapted species for their environment. Pokémon then became the more dominant form of wildlife whereas the scarce amount of animals left went into hiding, deep inside the nooks and cranny of the vast world.

Kabutops would also occasionally recount tales of his few encounters with these creatures. From his stories, I had deemed them mostly harmless, not able to inflict much damage on a trained Pokémon.

" _Gishishishishi!_ It was a good dozen years ago, but I remember the scenes vividly as if it was only yesterday!" Kabutops would titter, his laugh oddly reminding me of a peculiar mixture between the buzz of a swarm of angry Beedrill and the sound of nail on chalkboard. How ever that would work without vocal cords, I had no idea.

 _(One day… one day, I'll figure that mystery out!)_

"…by far the largest water-dwelling creature I have seen. A Wailord would barely measure half a whale's size! You really should have seen it! Or not. You might have gotten some weird ideas from it. Who knows what goes on in that not-brain of yours? Certainly not an old geezer such as me. But really! It just comes to the surface and expels this water-mist-thingy before diving deep down to who-knows-where. Honestly, I wasn't even sure if I was dreaming or not. Pretty sure I wasn't. Because my dreams mostly involve talking walls and dancing Bellsprout…"

Imagine riding one to cross the sea; it could perhaps hold more passengers than any of the boats I had seen. Would have been a good way to earn profit for the seagoing companies.

 _Though seeing one using Body Slam on any Pokémon would have been hilarious_ , I mused, slightly wincing at the possible outcome of the assault.

 _(And one should note that I do take my long-winded tendency from someone. It didn't just appear out of nowhere, you know?)_

"That poor Empoleon just got gobbled straight up! Gishi gishi! That was definitely a sight worth freezing my whole carapace over several times during my trek! And the best part was that those orcas hunted in _pods_ and every pack had _different hunting techniques_. Maybe they were something like a family memento? Gishi gishi. Those jaws are nothing to laugh about; they clipped those steel wings like toothpicks." If I had seen right, he swore that he saw Kabutops shudder before hissing out a few broken mutters about a crushed exoskeleton.

 _(Though snapping steel as easy as snapping a toothpick? Sounds pretty farfetched to me. My best bet would be that either it wasn't the steel part the orca targeted or those steel thingies on Empoleons aren't actually steel. They probably aren't actual steel. Maybe alloy? Or just an imitation of the metal. Bah.)_

Nice to know that the Old Fossil had yet to become orca food. Else he wouldn't be able to tell me all those stories of his. But do they still exist on these lands? Part of me wanted to admire one from up close, to observe how they work as a team, while another part just wanted to stay far, far away from those fearsome maybe-fish, capable of taking on an Empoleon without breaking a sweat.

That was quite an impressive feat, considering it was an only animal.

They maybe not have the advantage of long-ranged attacks, but it sure sounded like they have brute force and maybe even wits on their side. And they travelled in packs! From what Ditto knew, only little of the Pokémon he could consider as water-typed preys stayed around their family once they attained their adult stages, much less hunt as a family.

"Take a Sharpedo, remove the scar-like marking and give it an actual body extension including a tail. That's a shark. That's the I-won't-let-go-no-matter-what shark. Not in the romantic way… or maybe it is? Never seen them mate. How do they exactly mate? Do they also mate in the same way as Pokémon do and lay eggs? How do we differentiate the genders between them?

"But copulation inquiries aside, they sure are an aggressive bunch. With a body longer than a Dragonair's, they eat just about anything smaller than them with meat. Cool, huh? That's what I would call the apex predator of the sea. And from what I've seen, even other water Pokémon do not usually go bother them. Not to mention that some even would start avoiding them!"

Well, I would also avoid direct contact with anybody called the 'apex predator', to be honest. Or not. Because someone times, you simply can't resist prodding at whatever danger there is, just because you can. But aren't there any other more fearsome creatures around sharks? Like, say, a Gyarados or a Feraligatr or Huntail? Then again, Gyarados normally stick to lakes and smaller bodies of water and Huntail normally stick to the deeper parts of the ocean and wouldn't come up to the surface unless a crisis happens or some fisherman accidentally caught it.

As for Feraligatr, I have no idea. Mostly because I rarely see them in the wild, and I have never seen one out in the open seas. Same goes for all the others evolved form of the Pokédex wielders' first Pokémon.

And Pokémon from myths and legends shouldn't be involved included in the comparison. It's not even clear if even half of them exist, and if they do, it's sacred stuff. Enough said.

But point said, sharks are cool, fish avoid them and I had never seen one.

"Oh, but woe is me!" the Old Fossil then exclaimed, folding his claw-slash-scythe-slash-appendage over his head and taking Ditto by surprise, "For that I have grown fusty and my feeble corse shan't carry across the continents anymore! It is now up to thee my own task of exploring the world!"

I stared.

He shut his eyes, taking a deep breath and started mumbling apropos of what I assumed were names of his old friends. The old geezer had mentioned them on a few rare, if not brief, occasions.

 _(…_

 _He had eyelids?)_

As I was about to comment on his odd impulse and flair for the dramatic, he suddenly _moved_ and I found my gelatinous body spread out on the rocky ground, the blunt side of Kabutops' claw—or whatever one would call it—firmly pressed between my eyes.

He tutted at me before steadily retracting his appendage from my face, eyeing me disapprovingly.

 _A self-proclaimed high-ranking explorer_ , I had to remind myself, _with very possibly over a century worth of experience. Also possibly senile by now and definitely… slightly unhinged, for the lack of better words._

"You know that I expected you to at least present the elderly some manners, Little Blue." Did I also mention that he was also the one who nicknamed me? "And out of everyone I have known, you know best that I dislike being cut off. I thought I had taught you better."

And with that, Kabutops briskly walked away, leaving my body spread out on the ground.

I just continued staring at his retreating form, this time for a different reason.

Yet still and all in confusion.

 _What just happened? Did I do something wrong? Did the Old Fossil reach his gender's and species' version of the menopause?_

But whatever did happen, I just decided to stay in this position, mulling over my own thoughts and letting the Old Fossil not-so-silently fume over something.

 _If… if what he said was true, then I could possibly conquer the seas if I manage to assemble a squadron—no, an_ army _of them! Then I'll become the ruler of all oceans!_

 _That is, assuming no humans or higher forces try to stop me._

 _…_

 _Man, someone is going to put a halt to my sea domination plans if I try. I'm dead certain about it._

 _And there goes any world-conquest quests I had… Not that I had any. It's not my main goal. Nor any of my present goals. Talking about present goals, it seems that mine and the Old Fossil's coincidentally overlap, and isn't that convenient. Two birds with one stone. Or would it be more than only two? Because I get to trade stories with him and chart off the world, all the while keeping him interested and contented with staying cooped up in a cave as a hermit._

 _But then, how does he manage to find all these trinkets for his hoard? Does he have outside contacts apart from me? A spy network? Is he secretly not a Pokémon and is actually a god that got bored of being a god?_

 _-DotD-_

But I'm straying away from my main point, aren't I? I was supposed to talk about the prestige of the fish-like animals here. And to say that I never got the chance to ask gramps if they still thrived in any parts of the world… Maybe I should ask him on my next visit.

Well, looks like I'll be ending this entry here. I've been dragging this a bit longer than I intended so.

 _Signed,_

 _Ditto._


	16. Split 1

I do not own Naruto, nor do I own Pokémon.

* * *

 _Kisame_

With the sun still high up in the sky, the three of them could once again be found in the same clearing, seated cross-legged in a circle. Tension lingered like a blade hung up into the air, waiting for the perfect moment to strike down. They were locked in a three-way stareoff, bodies stiff and radiating wariness.

Or would be, if it weren't for Mangetsu's head slowly nodding, with every dip bringing the Hozuki closer to sleep, and Mei staring at nothing, grinning to herself in some sort of anticipation.

Looked like Kisame was the only one taking this gathering as a serious event.

Or perhaps Kisame was the one misunderstanding the objective of the meeting, if he could even call it so.

And then there was also the deal with Ditto. Little Ditto who was being an annoying little prick and felt that assaulting Kisame with a mouthful of saliva was a fun idea. Little Ditto who was running around, leading him to dubious (though apparently useful) locations and eclipsing themself right after.

Little Ditto, who he would have considered apologizing to if he wasn't such a little shit.

And since they seemed to be goading Kisame into chasing them for whatever reason, he decided that from now on, he'll do his best to ignore Ditto, and circumstances will hopefully help calm down the situation down.

Or just calm Ditto down. That could work too.

Seeing that the three of them would get nowhere in status quo, he resolved to address the case with a resigned sigh. Kisame glanced at the two figures who had settled beside him, finding them in the same position they assumed a few minutes ago.

"Mangetsu." Said teammate startled awake with a jerk of his head, and Kisame noticed a drop of drool dribbling down his chin. For a moment, he wondered if Mangetsu was really from one of the noble clans of Kiri but refocused himself on the current subject instead of prowling in meaningless thoughts. "Why… What did Hoshiko-sensei mean when she said you begged for the thief's life?"

"It means what it means, Kisa-san," said Mangetsu, grinning cryptically. "Alright, I actually felt kinda bad for the old man when he said he had this cute brother around waiting for him. So I asked sensei to _maaaaybe_ consider not killing a guy who probably had a way lower body count than sensei, or hell, any chunin in the village," he confessed after receiving an unimpressed stare.

(And while Kisame wasn't sure of it, he distinctively heard a female voice shouting _'It's **Hoshiko** -sensei!' _in the far off.)

Kisame leant back, not too much to avoid falling flat on his back, and took a moment to reflect on the justification given. It wasn't such a far-fetched answer, but with a mindset alike, Mangetsu might encounter a few… ethical dilemmas if he would be to continue down the shinobi career.

"Reasonable enough, I guess," acknowledged Kisame idly, "but you know, you won't be able to pull out of fire every single bandit we encounter who reveals a tragic backstory."

"One exception wouldn't do much harm…" Mangetsu huffed as Kisame rolled his eyes at the halfhearted attempt of rebuttal. "Off to another subject before I get schooled over with ' _Oh, but what you've done might lower Kiri's reputation'_ or other," he said with a poor imitation of Kisame's voice, said teammate wearing an expression stuck between mild indignation and embarrassment, "Terumi-chan hadn't have the chance to talk! So, what do you think?"

Before following Mangetsu's example to face their female squad member, he chewed the previous words in his head. Did he appear to be such a stuck-up individual? Did his voice really sound like that? Did he—

"-ame? Kisame? Still with us?" Mei waved a hand in front of Kisame, a hint of concern discernable on her face. "You seem to be spacing out a lot recently."

Huh. Now that she mentioned it, he did seem to have his head in the clouds more and more since Ditto's arrival. And while their presence did make a noticeable change in the amount of time he wallowed in self-doubt, it wasn't exactly the distraction he was hoping for.

(But he wouldn't deny their potential usefulness in battle and he did enjoy their company from time to time.)

"But whatever it is, just know we'll be here," she continued and glanced at Mangetsu, who subtly nodded. Did something happen between the two when he was gone? "Though I have a question. Or two, actually. Maybe three."

"Yes?"

"You do trust us, right?" She paused, and waited for Kisame's rather hesitant nod before resuming. "Remember the last mission? About your sword…" Mei trailed off, her eyes suddenly gaining a gleam Kisame couldn't quite put his finger on.

She leant forward, a bit too close to his comfort, and Kisame was starting to think that agreeing to come to this gathering wasn't such a good idea. Maybe he should have just gone back to see where in the world the Kid had vanished to. Maybe that would have been safer and less awkward. She was starting to lean closer and closer, and he was sure he would be able to feel her breath on his face—or collarbone; Mei wasn't exactly the epitome of tallness—any time soon.

"Is it a legendary treasure no one has ever seen that you found in the dirt, buried behind your house? Is a long-lost cursed family heritage only passed down every seven generations? Did a mythical warrior come to this village and you somehow came into possession of their most prized sword? Did you—" she fired the question one after the another, with every one getting more and more incredulous, her tone now dropped to a hushed, frantic whisper.

Kisame's auburn-haired teammate hadn't even let him answer one question before veering to another, and while she had lost him midway through, he was dead certain one of her theories involved decomposing corpse-eating men-ghosts.

Strings of words were pouring out of her mouth, and the longer Kisame listened, the less he understood.

He was slowly edging backwards when Mei was suddenly cut off by a loud squawk of surprise on from the side.

(His team really had a knack around getting cut off in mid-sentence.)

Mangetsu fell flat on his back just as their sensei seemingly materialized right before their eyes. Possible genjutsu or shunshin, then.

Kisame slowly released a breath he hadn't known he was holding. Distraction was good. Distraction meant that Ditto's secret was still safe for now. A minor grudge was one thing, a promise was another.

"Hi! Well, Mei, before you accidentally kiss our blue boy here or involuntarily scare him away, his sword is possibly chakra sensitive! And where he got it is still kind of a mystery to everyone. Well, according to his files. I think. Bye!"

And with those partings words, Hoshiko-sensei body-flickered away with a half-assed salute and a wink.

Mei blinked once, twice, and swiftly scrambled back to her original spot and uttered a quick apology, face marginally flushed.

Kisame himself had felt the heat rise up his cheeks and had done his best to avoid thinking about sensei's possible implications. "I think we'll just leave it there… though if you feel like telling me where you found the sword, I'm more than happy to listen," she concluded, coughing into her fists and averting her eyes from his face.

His squad members… they weren't bad people. As long as they didn't pry too much and knew how to keep a secret, he might consider asking Ditto's permission to introduce them to the two. Might. Kisame disliked nosy people.

And so, the silence settled in once more, and strangely enough, he felt a pair of eyes on him.

It wouldn't be Mei, the kunoichi having her face buried in her hands, as if trying to push the embarrassment down physically. Then that leaves…

Mangetsu was staring at him intently through squinted eyes, though not quite yet a glare. Just… staring intensely. Not saying anything.

(Did he have anything stuck on his face?)

The boy took a deep breath and opened his mouth, just to snap it close with an audible _click_ immediately afterwards.

Strange. Kisame didn't think Mangetsu would be one to hesitate much before anything, let alone simply talking to this kid with a few animalistic characteristics.

"Hey, Kisa-san," said Mangetsu with slightly forced a voice and slowly pointing an accusatory finger between his eyes. What did he even do? Did Mangetsu have a vendetta against him or something? Why do his teammates not understand the concept of personal space?

The white-haired boy seemed to strain himself to even just take another breath before continuing on with what he intended to say.

"Urgh… I have no concrete proof or anything to actually back me up on this aside from a simple witness and what I deduced from it, so I've been wondering…" He breathed in and out slowly, and much like Mei, he lowered his voice to barely a murmur. "Are you a summoner or something? Like a dog summoner? Because it's been kinda nagging me and I'm starting to form all these crazy conspiracies theories, considering the only dog summon known is Konoha's property, and… yeah, you get the general idea. I think. Or not? I mean, I don't think you would be thinking that way, since you're so… uh, you seem to be a… you know what, forget those last words."

Kisame raised an eyebrow at the unexpected change of tone and then squinted at the babbling boy, trying to detangle the mess of words and mumbles that have been thrust right into his face.

Oh, Mangetsu was talking about Ditto. So now that made two of them who suspected Ditto was a summon at first.

Well, that simplified and complicated the situation simultaneously.

Mangetsu made a wrong assumption, which Kisame could easily deflect, but he was on to something and might start to get suspicious of him if Kisame didn't do anything to steer him away from the subject. Or he could convince them… Both Ditto and Mangetsu, and maybe even Mei, then everything should go a tad smoother.

"I'm not a summoner. Yet. Shishou said he might consider finding me one after I reach chunin rank," replied Kisame. Mangetsu seemed to visibly deflate at the statement, presumably thinking he had picked up a trail of some sort. "Though if the dog you've mentioned is the one I'm thinking about," namely Ditto, "I could disclose a few bits of information on them if you help me catch them." Obviously not as much information to reveal their true nature—not yet, at least, not without their consent—but only few hints here and there.

"Then it's a deal!" Mangetsu grinned from ear to ear, undoubtedly enthusiastic on the prospect of participating in what Kisame could characterize as a 'moving target treasure hunt'. Considering both of them had little to no lead to follow, it could prove to be troublesome. "What about you, Terumi-chan? Wanna come?"

Turning to face Mei, Kisame noted that she had been intently listening to their conversation. No doubt she too was aware that something was amiss with Ditto.

Well, it looked like he really needed to discuss a few things with his current housemate.

"Ah, I think I'll pass," Mei responded. "And unlike you boys, I actually have a family event I have to attend and places to be."

With that, she hoisted herself up and patted herself free from the few specks dirt encrusted in her outfit. She then walked away with a soft 'see you tomorrow' accompanied by a wave, to which Mangetsu enthusiastically returned.

"Since the sun still has a long way to go until it sets, we could start dog-hunting right now. So, what do you say?"

Kisame grinned, and while he didn't know where Ditto could be presently found, he did have a few ideas about the places they liked to frequent. "I say I quite like your idea."

Without any prior warning, Mangetsu bolted up and out of the clearing all of a sudden, prompting Kisame to follow suite.

And so the chase began anew.

* * *

 _Ditto_

Out of all obstacles to his road to success, Ditto had certainly not expected it to be such a mundane impediment would be one of them. Maybe he had taken it for granted, given the large quantity available back in Kanto—or just any area in the known regions close to civilization—but could they possibly so rare in such an important town? Ditto could very well steal one, but where would he put it after finishing using it? Or would he even return it to its rightful owner?

But no, if they were indeed so rare, he would not swipe it away from someone. Even if Ditto was only a lowly Pokémon, he was a lowly Pokémon with values and morals.

 _(I don't even apply them often, so why mention it? It's not all that rare that I end up questioning them and back out on a decision on a whim. — **But morals are the values you pick during your lifetime, and they direct your actions, so… You know what?** **Just swap morals for code of ethics. Being ethical means not only being moral, but also reflecting on your values and questioning on your choices in certain circumstances. Happy now?** — Much better. — **Man, I don't even get why I bother with this.** )_

And so, this is how Ditto found himself furiously hunting for the elusive pen in the house, making sure to leave no stone unturned in his path. One could only withstand so many accidental ink blotches on their work before snapping. Of course, he would replace every single item back to its original position, as to make sure he wouldn't have to rethread through the same path without noticing.

 _(I mean, calligraphy brushes are great and all, but unwittingly dropping globules of ink on a nearly finished map one worked so hard on, just for it to be ruined by a few drips of the wretched obsidian blood from the demons of the underdepths of hell is no laughing matter. Not to mention that my stroke width would sometimes come out uneven, and wasn't that just frustrating. I would take a quill over these brushes any day. — **I think you're just not used to using brushes.** )_

Ditto cried out in frustration, lashing out at the nearest object. The unfortunate object being one of the many ceramic bowls Big Blue seemed to hoard. He watched on with silent horror as the dish made its inevitable fall towards the ground and spread out himself on the floor, hoping to cushion the—

He suddenly paused, a feeling of unease settling on his shoulders. Or just on his whole body. It was somewhat hard to distinguish any features apart from eyes and mouth with his amorphous gel-like body. It was often said that most Pokémon possessed a sixth sense for looming threats, but Ditto would often dismiss it as gut feeling or paranoia.

The sound of ceramic shattering on wooden floorboard suddenly reverberated through the room, and shards of ornamented porcelain were scattered across the floor.

 _'Well, shit.'_

And there went one of the bowls Kisame took a great amount of pride in.

Ditto knew he could very well attempt to repair it with either epoxy or metal staples, though both methods do lack a bit of finesse and aesthetic—not to mention the rarity or even possible inexistence of said materials.

Not a second later, panic gripped him and his instincts told him to run far away or hide in a safe place, but _holy hell he just broke a really pretty dish Kisame loved and he had no idea what to do with it_.

An awfully familiar feeling started gnawing at his figurative chest, a disquieting impression coming to rest.

Guilt.

Guilt for breaking Kisame's property in a temper tantrum, guilt for not warning Kisame sooner of the danger during the mission, guilt for not staying to hear Kisame's side of the situation that night, for leading him nonsensically just to satisfy his trivial spite, guilt for basically freeloading at who he could finally call a friend's home, and the guilt for _all and everything he could and couldn't have done_.

He breathed out a slow sigh and looked up to the ceiling, as if he could find the answers to life there.

With a silent _oh, fuck it_ , Ditto snatched up the nearest piece of cloth—what was once a shirt before it got in the way of a sword—and wrapped up the fragments carefully. He hastily took off through one of the few windows, transforming into his now usual dog form in the process, a bundle of broken pieces of ceramic hazardously hanging from between his jaws.

Though it wasn't before leaving a small note on the table to notice Big Blue of his absence, paired with a small apology, as well as a few Pokémon battle tips.

 _(Just run away. Running away is always the easiest, if not best course of action. Always. I can testify to it.)_

Ditto leapt across various roofs, already knowing the routes and paths arrangement in the village better than the back of his hands. Paws. Whatever he would have that could substitute as hands. With no clear destination in mind—just faintly aware of the safest courses that span across the village—he sent weak bursts of energy now and then, catching a few familiar ripples. He steered away from them, not exactly wishing to get caught in the middle of any confrontation for now.

He needed to find someone who knew how to repair bowls. And most of the shops and stalls Ditto knew of were geared more towards weaponry or food.

And while the one that popped up in his mind wasn't exactly what he was searching for, it was still worth a shot.

* * *

Padding softly on the ground, dog-Ditto made sure to not jostle his package too much. The pieces had fortunately shattered in rather big chunks, and he wasn't planning to make his job any harder that it is. Not that it was actually all that hard, per se. Because technically, it wasn't his job to do the harder chunk of the task.

What _would_ make his job easier would be if people bothered to maintain a minimal hygiene in this alley. Because out of every street possible, it had to be _this one_ civilians and ninja alike decided to dump their waste.

One could wonder _why in the name of Arceus_ someone would decide to set up a shop _here_ of all places.

Finally spotting the wooden ensign hung high, dog-Ditto hurriedly approached the small shop, relieved find an area where he could spared of the stench permeating the air. Even if only for the duration spent in the meager amount of time he'll spend in the shop, it was better than nothing.

Butting his head against the door, dog-Ditto gingerly opened it and was greeted by the soft chime of a bell. Huh, he hadn't even noticed it on his first visits here, though it made sense. A useful and reliable enough way to keep track of customers entering and exiting the area when the owner is blind.

"Welcome to Lake Rising, how may I help you?"

The shopkeeper wore an amiable smile, looking much friendlier and less disinterested in the clientele than the majority shop clerks in Kanto. Especially the ones from Celadon city, but it might be because he visited them during late at night or early morning most of the time.

 _(Maybe it's because the ones back in Kanto and most of the other regions are open 24/7 and some unlucky guy or gal gets the midnight shift while this one closes when the shopkeeper's away or sleeping. Though that only applies to the Pokémon supplies shop, curiously._

 _Man, I'm really starting to miss visiting flower shops. They definitely smell better than here.)_

"Hi 'ere!" said Ditto, voice muffled by the cloth clenched between his teeth. He deposited the package softly on the ground, question of not hindering his speech. "So I was wondering, do you know how to repair bowls? Or anyone who knows how to repair ceramic bowls?"

The small room was still as dusty as it was this morning, with a minimum of change noticeable. The only difference was the displacement of the urn he remembered being mentioned by Mei a while ago.

"Oh, I'm afraid I myself can't do anything about it due to my…" He made a vague gesture towards his eyes, smiling apologetically. "condition, if I could call it. Sorry."

Just as Ditto started losing hope, the shopkeeper quickly followed in, as if feeling his dejection.

"But that doesn't mean I don't know how to! You could always reassemble it with resin and sand down the excess for a smoother finish. If it got chipped, you could also use the resin to fill in the cavity, sand it down and paint over it. Though if you're looking for something fancier, there should be an artisan called Fuji living up north, close to the border of our country, who should be able repair it for you for a reasonable price. I should have her coordinates listed somewhere…"

The vendor picked up a notebook set on the left of the counter and flipped it open, skimming over the pages with a sleek finger.

The man hummed while continuing his task, and Ditto waited, content, reveling in the sound of rustling paper and the smell of an old book. It reminded him of his numerous visits to the numerous libraries from across the regions.

It was nice.

(It felt like he was back in Sinnoh, resting in between stops, while his travel partner would go dilly-dallying elsewhere around.)

The sound of the notebook snapping shut pulled him out of his reminiscing, how ever short it was.

"Fuji lives in Kintaro, a small civilian village located close to the sea shore. It takes a few days to get there by foot, one week and a half at most. Bears are also commonly spotted around the area, so do be careful if you plan on going alone," supplied the man, replacing the notebook back on the counter.

Dog-Ditto's ears perked up at the information, a newfound flame of determination burning bright in his eyes.

"Alright! Thanks! I'll be heading right out now!"

"My pleasure and safe travels," said the man, offering yet another smile. Such a pure, radiant smile. The shopkeeper probably didn't deserve even half the crap he gets. Maybe not even a quarter. Or maybe he does, because he was in fact an evil overlord who tried to dominate the world, enslave the population and rule over it with an iron fist, and was now atoning for his sins.

Either way, as long as the man could travel, Ditto had no objection against having another travel partner.

 _(But he's blinder than a Zubat and has an antique shop to take care of, so I doubt he'd agree if I proposed him to accompany me on a journey. Tried it once with a gal in a similar situation, didn't quite work out as intended. — **Moral of the story: don't randomly ask the visually impaired to trek across the world with you.** )_

Dog-Ditto snatched up his make-shift container, eager to explore outside of the village once again. The only times he did was when he arrived in this strange land and when Kisame had gotten his first mission.

He stopped short just before the doorway. Why hadn't he gone outside to explore on his own? It wasn't like there was anything stopping him to do so. Was there?

Ditto decided to not dwell too long on the subject. The shopkeeper might start worrying about a not-client freezing in the middle of his shop. The man didn't have any visible grey hair yet, and probably wouldn't any time soon if Ditto could just leave the shop like a normal person would do.

"Oh, an' I'rr 'ake shure to w'ring hack shome'hing hur you!" And he darted outside the shop without waiting for a reply, secretly grateful that the door swung both ways.

Now here was to hoping the man didn't get too suspicious about the whole having-a-mouthful-of-cloth hindered speech. Though even if he did, Ditto didn't think that he would be one to gossip to the near-nonexistent customers _( **That's kind of harsh. —** It's the truth! And it's not like I would shout it out on the top of my lungs while standing on a rooftop)_ or report it to a higher figure of authority.

Stepping out of the foul-smelling alley and into an open road, Ditto realized one of the main holes in his plan.

The only clue he had about the whereabouts of the village was the oh-so helpful notion that it was located to the north, close to the ocean.

He didn't really want to return to the antique shop and bother the man _(and my pride)_ again, and casually asking civilians and ninja alike around as a dog was bound to get him in trouble. Not to mention he was flat broke and had no ways to afford the service.

So as a human it'll be. That would remediate to his first concern. He would get to the money crisis later on and find a solution for it later on. Later problems for later Ditto.

Sending out a weak pulse, he confirmed that there was surprisingly no one in the vicinity apart from that one shopkeeper.

Huh, weird. Even though the area did tend to end up deserted on a few specific days, Ditto didn't expect it to be at this point. Maybe have a kid or two run around or an old woman haggling with a passerby who didn't want to buy her wares.

 _(At least it gives me a small advantage. I really thought I had to sneak into a public bathroom or something to change. But do public bathrooms even exist here? Because I haven't seen any. That is the question of the day.)_

He quickly shifted into a human he had once seen in the bustling city of Goldenrod, making sure he adapted the clothes to the ones a common civilian would wear in the village. And voilà! The image of a human no one would spare a second glance. After all, his transformations would only limit to anatomical and physiological restrictions of certain organic forms, and what he could conjure up in his mind.

 _( **No second glance,** e **xcept if said person is a shinobi.** — Arceus-damned ninja and their probably justified paranoia ruining everything! Still not going to change into another human, though. Not worth the trouble.)_

Ditto took a tentative step in human form, and promptly tripped over his foot, falling face first to the ground.

And fortunately for the package, it was left unharmed on the ground, where Ditto had left it _(I think I just forgot to pick it up, but do correct me if I'm wrong)_ moments before transforming.

Groaning and cradling his sore nose, Ditto staggered back up to his feet and tried to regain a sense of balance. It had been a while since he used a bipedal body of this scale, and still had to accustom himself again to it.

 _(Why are you so hard to control?! Why can't you just be as easy as that one bird? He was also bipedal!)_

Using a wall as support, he cautiously crouched down, on the lookout for the first sign of lack of balance, and picked up the bundle of ceramic pieces.

He righted himself up, bundle of cloth nestled snugly in the crook of his arm.

One step, and another. A few hops, a bit of running around. Try balancing on one leg, and the other.

And he realized that _hey, this wasn't so hard_. He had done this before, so why wouldn't he be able to do it now?

 _(It's like trying to skate again after maybe three years or so of inactivity in the sport. It's shaky when you first restart, but you get the basic grasp of it back after a moment. Though that's what others testified, because the only time I tried skating in a humanoid body, I failed pathetically and never had the courage to try again.)_

Feeling confident enough, he walked to a slightly more populated street, intent on finding how to get to the Kintaro village.

The street wasn't exactly what he could call a marketplace, but there were a few stalls here and there and the vendors would judge passersby with a critical eye, so, to a limit, it could—

Out of the corner of his eye, Ditto caught a flash of blue moving around.

He tried to be discreet, that he did, but it wasn't all that easy as a civilian. At least his looks helped him in the matter. And since he was but a civilian, no ninja would really mind him. Maybe. Probably.

And there he was, trying to discreetly peek at Big Blue, seeing him walking around, somewhat irked and his white mop haired teammate in tow.

Hm.

Another matter for another Ditto. Focus on current task first.

Apparently Big Blue had noticed him staring for too long, because the shark-like teen snapped at him right after, prompting Ditto to veer to other way. Sharp teeth and a muscular build were rather intimidating, both on humans and any other sentient life beings alike. Altercations, whether verbal or physical, were to be avoided at best.

After finding a passing merchant, asking for directions and getting subsequently heckled by said merchant when he thought Ditto was 'wasting his precious time in the village', he headed out for the front gates.

The path, according to him, should be fairly safe, if not for the occasional bear. Bandit attacks should be rare, and it wasn't like Ditto wasn't experienced in battle. As a human, it could be argued, but as a Pokémon? He could win a battle with a human any day. Or at least, that was what he hoped. If Ditto wouldn't, he wasn't sure his ego could take the blow. Being defeated by a human in battle would be…

He'd prefer to not think about it.

* * *

 _Kisame_

"You know, you didn't have to bark at that civilian. Probs' wasn't even looking at you, that poor guy."

Kisame opened the door to his house, letting Mangetsu step in before closing it. No need for a lock; no one even bothered venturing in the vicinity apart from himself.

"You wouldn't pity him if you knew of all the stares and insults I got from the likes of them," grumbled out Kisame. "And I know, ' _not everyone is the same_ ', I got that more than once, but I'm just…"

He let out a sigh, letting himself drop on the sole couch in the house, and inviting his squad member to do the same. How many times had he sighed in this single day? He didn't know, and had no interest in knowing for now. Maybe later, but not right now.

"Heeeey, what's the matter, Kisa-san? Already abandoning? I thought you were way more determined than this. Was the dog really someone that important to you? If so, I could give you a few tips to cope with breakups, all from my mom's eternal wisdom," said Mangetsu with a teasing grin, taking a quick look around the room, before copying Kisame and letting himself drop beside him.

Kisame simply huffed, not deigning to grace him with an answer.

On the small table on the opposite of the room, he spotted a scrap of paper sitting atop of it, all innocent and harmless. Innocent and harmless, if not for the fact Kisame clearly remembered clearing aforementioned table prior to leaving the house.

Not innocent, then, but still harmless. Except if it was an explosive tag, which he highly doubted. Not only with the shape, but also why anybody would bother sneaking into a house and placing a tag when they could spend their time doing something much, _much_ more productive, like not breaking into some genin's house and trapping his tabletop with an explosion-in-a-paper activated through chakra.

He stood up and walked to the table, picking the scrap of paper up. Mangetsu followed suite, as curious and as silent as a cat.

Kisame never really liked cats. Mangetsu wasn't exactly a cat, so he was fine and dandy with his presence. But he was now sticking _very_ closely behind, close enough so Kisame could feel a warm breath down his neck. No doubt Mangetsu was trying to peek over his shoulder to read what had been scribbled on the paper and failing due to their difference in height.

Now that he was slightly less comfortable with.

Nonetheless, he tried ignoring the slow breathing of his teammate blowing air onto his neck and concentrate on deciphering what had been written. It was either a code or a writing that wouldn't even qualify as a sloppy scrawl or even chicken scratch.

He scrunched up his eyes, still trying to decide if it was actual normal writing, lines drawn haphazardly on the paper or encoded writing.

And it was after a moment that realization dawned unto him.

 _Ah, he was holding the paper upside down._

Now that made much more sense.

 _'Hey yo!_

 _Big Blue,_

 _I'm sorry for a lot of things, and even if the list was smaller, it wouldn't fit on this tiny piece of paper. But, uh, mostly? Sorry for walking out on you. And not listening. And a lot of other stuff too._

 _But that's not the only thing I have to say/write/convey to you!_

 _So I have to go out for a bit, maybe for a few hours. Or days. It depends on the circumstances, really. Or maybe even weeks? Who knows! I do have a surprise for you when I come back! Probably!_

 _I just wanted to tell you that if you would ever start worrying over my momentary to maybe super-long vacation/absence, I'm probably still safe and maybe trying to explore the surrounding area. So no worries._

\- _Lil Blue'_

"Big Blue? That's you, right? Fitting name for a big kid like you," was the first thing the grinning team member said, followed by "And _Lil_ Blue? Did you adopt a stray and made them your little sibling? Kisa-san? Still with me? Hey…"

And Kisame stopped paying attention to him, doing his best to ignore the pokes he was getting on his cheeks.

He flipped over the scrap of paper, revealing a small block of text.

 _'Oh! And before I forget, swords don't howl, but they sure do screech! In fact, they can screech real hard with Metal Sound. Try saying it in battle. It'll be cool. You could also try saying 'Slash' too, I would make a super rad glowy arc slash thing. It's definitely worth trying. There are also other moves, but I'm kind of starting to run out of space, so I might tell them to you in person later on.'_

While he did understand the words, Kisame wasn't sure he understood the context. Another thing to add to the pile of question to Ditto.

What had Ditto gotten themself into again?

It had better not been another 'duel' with the eel downstream. He swore, Ditto really had a knack with picking fights with animals.

Kisame sighed for the umpteenth time and pocketed the note.

Decidedly, he wasn't fit for figuring out what went inside of his formless partner's head.

* * *

 **See, I was following a white hare around, when I fell into a deep hole. It took me quite some effort and time to get out of it, considering I had to slay a wyvern on the way up. (School started anew, and I'm pretty much drowning under math and science. So I'm trying to balance between school, not-school activities and writing. That equals even slower writing. But hey, at least it hasn't been a complete month yet, right?)**

 **Running away from your problems is bad for your health in the long term, thus being Ditto is bad for your health in the long term.**

 **So. Suspicions happened and paths split! I can't write drama nor can I write complex feelings! People misunderstanding each other! I can't write proper author's notes! Yay!**

 **Also, another (kind of cruddy) extra scene to apologize for the lateness.**

 **See you guys in a month or so. (And thank you all for reading!)**

 **Reviews and suggestions are always appreciated!**

* * *

 _Omake:_ _From Another's Eyes_

Seiji was nothing out of the ordinary. He was a simple civilian working in a shop left by his late father. He had no clear memory of mother; father had said she left them because she could not endorse the responsibility of taking care of herself, as well as two children.

After father passed away, all that was left was himself, his brother, and the shop with its dirty shelves.

Seiji had no way of knowing how run-down the place was until nii-san described it the best he could, with the limited vocabulary of his, and had him drag his fingers around corners and wooden planks to get him familiarized.

Koichi-nii was someone he loved dearly, someone he loved more than anyone else, even with his crass attitude. He wouldn't be surprised if aniki happened to get himself dragged into a brawl because of his taunts or he couldn't keep a lid on his big mouth. Seiji tried to understand exactly why his brother took pleasure in provoking others, he really did, but still, but results still came out null.

Seiji didn't understand.

It's not ' _cool_ ' to be the villain, he had told him. Being evil isn't ' _awesome_ '. Isn't being the bad guy wrong? Wouldn't it be better to be on the _good_ side?

Seiji had brushed it off by dismissing it to be just a simple quirk or stage in life. After all, nii-san still had a heart, he still found time to spend with the little family that was left despite constantly traveling around, he would still help old men in need, he would still be _here_ , with him, _no matter what_.

But…

Even if his eyes didn't quite work the way they used to, he still couldn't turn a blind eye on his brother's recent actions.

Don't get him wrong; he was absolutely grateful they spared Koichi-nii's life!

Yet, he still couldn't stop wondering if nii-san really deserved mercy then. Attacking and nearly killing three children? And that wasn't even the worse he had heard as of late. Really, he…

The chatter of the newly introduced Mangetsu snaps Seiji out of his thoughts, the young boy avidly jabbering about how having a sibling must have been wonderful and how he himself deeply desired to have a younger family member. He'll admit, it's slightly disconcerting how far ahead Mangetsu planned out for his potential younger brother or sister, though Seiji admires his dedication to his not-yet-born sibling.

Mangetsu then describes his two friends to him, as well as whom Seiji assumes to be their guardian.

Mei, 'a girl with really pretty hair' and seems to share the same fascination towards antiques and artefacts Seiji holds, Kisame, 'the guy who likely bares a grudge against a dog he broke up with, but is also pretty cool' (here, Seiji wonders if there's an underlying insult), and Hoshiko, 'the sensei who's probably not cut out to be a sensei'.

Seiji listens thoughtfully to Mangetsu as he chatters on, inserting his own comment and opinion once in a while. He smiles all the way through, genuinely enjoying the company.

It's refreshing to finally have human company to converse to. Talking to a room full of inanimate objects isn't very interesting. The errand boy who comes by every few days is no fun either, simply leaving the weekly necessities on the counter before ambling away without a word.

When the time came, he regretfully bids them goodbye, and hands the girl a discount slip, hoping one of them would come back to keep him company. Mei would probably come back for the vase, and if Seiji could allow the optimistic thought, maybe visit periodically for more relics and perhaps even hold a small, pleasant conversation with him.

Another person, most probably a shinobi, if the light footsteps are anything to go by, comes in during the afternoon, asking for a piece of information. Seiji tells them, and before he could even give a proper farewell, they barged out of his shop, oddly nervous all of a sudden.

Though they did say they would come visit him after their travel.

If not, there's still hope for nii-san to come back.

One year, they said, just one year to wait.

Until then, he'll put faith in his lungs to not fail him. He had been waking up more and more frequently short of breath, and coughing up mucus wasn't a rare sight anymore.

 _It runs in the blood_ , a man once told his father, _it isn't a rare occurrence to have a frail health in your family._

…

Until then, he'll just have to wait for the soft _ding_ of the doorbell to come ringing again.

(Please, just give him enough time to see his brother again.)


	17. Split 2

I do not own Naruto, nor do I own Pokémon.

* * *

 _Ditto_

Taking a step out of the village, now finally accustomed to the body he was wearing, Ditto took a whiff or air, pride swelling up in his chest.

His first solo mission outside the village.

Granted, Ditto was nothing like a ninja, but it wouldn't do any harm in stating it like that. It was an exploration with a clear task in mind, and failing it was not really an option. That translated to 'mission' in Ditto's head, and mission it would be. There was nothing stopping him from thinking so, and nothing will. It wasn't like the patrol guards would arrest him for that.

 _(And plus, it sounds really cool. I mean, it's not just an exploration, it's a_ _ **mission**_ _! Though the goal of it sounds kind of lame and expeditions definitely beat it, it's still exciting!)_

Curiously enough, the guards at the gates hadn't made much fuss about a random citizen casually strolling out of the village. Just odd sideways glances, a question about what was in the cloth and a barely audible 'don't die', and he was clear to go.

And here Ditto thought a military dictatorship would be stricter.

But it only worked to his advantage, so he wouldn't be one to complain about it.

 _(_ _ **You probably will, but not yet.**_ _— Hey! And what do you even mean by that?)_

Feeling lighthearted, he sported a thrilled grin as he graciously skipped away.

 _(Because everyone can skip dignifiedly, no matter the age, gender, or just anything. You're a lousy male teenager going through puberty and the rebellious stage? I see no problem. You're a golden aged granny? Nothing wrong. But do be careful to not hurt yourself._

 _Everyone can skip.)_

* * *

Just as the merchant had said, Ditto found a narrow river flowing at around three hundred paces at the west of Kirigakure. It was of a crystalline sheen, curving gently through the forest.

 _(Just like the one in Route 119. How unoriginal it is, to name routes by numbers. But it is efficient, and I wouldn't have done much better. Never trust me with naming anything.)_

The road should be rather easy to follow from here; it consisted of simply following the river upstream until it forked into two separate streams, and continue down the right side until the village was in sight. A smooth, if not a bit long by foot, ride from finish to end, discounting any bears, bandits or other threats.

Taking off in the air could solve a great numbers of said difficulties, not to mention fasten the pace.

Optimal choice was Pelipper, considering the pouch offered a safer holder in contrast of having to hold it by gripping it with claws, talons or beak. Ditto would have said safety over speed would always be best, but it really wasn't, and this was the only exception. It was much more of comfort and efficiency over speed, and to let Big Blue cool down if he ever entered a small fit over the discovery of the broken pottery and other things.

Human-Ditto softly deposited his package on the grass with the intention of transforming into a form he was way more familiar with, when a small movement on the surface of the water caught his attention.

" _Ah, ah, I'll be late if this continues so. I wouldn't have that… No, she'd definitely have my scales… Ah, ah, what would I ever do?"_

Ditto was sure this human body would have gotten a whiplash from the sudden jerk of his head, but he couldn't find the will to care about it at the moment. He could always find a way to remedy to it later on.

He scrambled to the shore, the notion that he had fallen over from shock and was now on all four faintly registering in his mind. It wasn't like appearances mattered much for Pokémon, and he had to confirm his eyes didn't deceive him.

Anticipation and hope gnawed at his chest, his heart pounding wildly in it. This could be it.

This could provide him the answer to a question that tormented him to no end.

 _(Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease—)_

Breathlessly peering over the edge of the water, Ditto watched as what had been a small turquoise stub slightly rise from the surface, now a small head inspecting the surroundings. They turned to face him with a gaping mouth, four serrated teeth—with one having a small portion nicked off—poking out from the opening.

" _Ah…?"_ Small beady eyes widened comically as they focus on him and if possible, their mouth opened even wider. _"A-ah! Human!"_

Having noticed his rookie mistake, Ditto quickly reverted back to his goopy body before they could run away from him. _(I'd say more of a 'dive back down', but I guess that also works if you consider this as a battle. —_ _ **Goodness, just let me continue!**_ _)_

" _Wait!"_ Ditto shouted, instinctively slipping back into his native tongue. _"I'm not actually a human— Remoraid! Stop thrashing in the water! And you're flinging water all over my face!"_

And it was only after Ditto starting wiping his face that he belatedly realized it wasn't just water. Ink and spit as well were mixed and diluted in the liquid and he tried to quickly clean himself before…

Well, it looked like he was too late. His body had inadvertently absorbed most—if not all—of it, and just _ew, gross_. Sure, it was a great way to recover lost body mass, but it didn't make it any less uncomfortable and awkward. Karma it was, he guessed, for soaking Big Blue's face with his own dog-converted saliva.

 _(I'm pretty sure that's not how karma w— —_ _ **CONTINUING ON. —**_ _Just constructive criticism, geez. I thought you liked it.)_

" _Ah, ah? N-not human then… Then what? I… I think I never saw you around. At least you're not the hound… I-I don't mean you have a forgettable face, but…! You definitely look nice, so maybe just passing through? This is quite the view… Ah, really…"_ They fumbled over their words, flustered and clumsy, trying to get their head to stay afloat on the surface.

 _(But I do enjoy their rhymes! Maybe they made them up inadvertently, but hey, it's pretty neat and I sure ain't able to rhyme like that!_ _ **— Yeah, probably inadvertently. Goodness knows how hard it is to find good rhymes on the go. One of the reasons neither of us will become poets. Or just about anyone here, really. Maybe one or two, but that's the max I'll do.**_ _)_

See, that was one of the distinct differences between water-typed Pokémon and water-dwelling animals. While most of the latter could not survive out of water, the former can, even though they're practically harmless out of water if not trained to battle on land.

One point for Pokémon and zero for animals, that's what it was! Though from what Ditto heard, summon animals were pretty cool. So maybe half a point for them. Pokémon had, and still will have, a special place in his figurative heart. Something akin to national pride, but more… uh, Poké-ish? Yeah, something like that.

" _Intros are first, then! I'm a Ditto, as you may or may not know, but I also go by Lil' Blue. What about you?"_ he singsonged, ecstatic to finally encounter another one of his kind. How much time had it been? A few months? Something short from half a year?

" _Little Blue? Fitting for a small dew like you… Remoraid, but others refer to me as Stripes despite my… Ah, but I'm used to it now, so everyone uses it anyhow…"_ they muttered, eyes downcast with a bittersweet smile. _"Ah, ah… Wouldn't listen to me, anyone in that vast sea…"_ added Remoraid, their smile dropping into a near imperceptible scowl, looking much more like if they were biting down hard on their lower jaw.

 _(Actually, it would be biting UP, since your mandible— —_ _ **AAAAAAAAAAH**_ _)_

Poor little guy, must have been the laughing stock of his shoal, from what Ditto could deduce. Not to mention that their smaller-than-average stature must have not helped in that matter.

" _Alright then, if you dislike your given nickname, then how about… Hm… Chip? Since you have a chipped tooth! Just tell me if you don't like it, 'kay?"_ At Remoraid's small forming smile, Ditto took it as approval and allowed himself to continue on. _"Though I do have a question for you. Do you remember how in the hells you found yourself swimming here? It's really relevant to me. As in, super-duper relevant, so much that I have the obligation to know how you were able to come here."_

At that, their head dipped back lightly into the water, eyes lowering down once again. _"Ah, sorry if I intruded on your territory… B-but! If it is of any help, I was being chased by a whelp. I had been trying to hitch a hike a passing Mantine, when the… when it occurred… Ah…"_

They swam closer to the shore, then further, then nearer again. Ditto wondered, was it the equivalent of pacing in the water? One thing was sure, Remoraid was an unsure individual. Maybe also eager to please.

Then that made two of them.

 _(It's always better to get on someone's good side. Makes everything flow smoother.)_

" _Well,"_ they continued on, fidgeting in the water and looking back and forth frantically, as though they feared a predator would burst out from nowhere to hunt them down. _"It was a… Ah, it seems I've forgotten. My bad… A great dark blue beast, red eyes shimmering in the depths and a striking yellow cross on top, I think it was. Our community collectively refers to it as the_ _ **hound**_ _. Unrelenting in its chase. Ah, to say that we lost so many members to it…"_

Remoraid paused, waiting to see if Ditto would interject or voice out any none came, they resumed their small recounting of misadventure. _"But ah, yes, a chase. I… ah, I wanted to be hero, so I veered out of the bank and into the unknown territories in an attempt to deviate it from its track. Managed to lose it in the reef, but I don't remember much after…"_ they trailed off, looking more uncertain than ever.

Chance was that Remoraid also blacked out before finding themself here. Although Ditto hadn't experienced a memory lapse—or thought he didn't, at least—, he would bet its equivalent was his own time in the inter-world dark space thingy.

While not exactly helpful, it was nice to have another Pokémon to talk to. Animals couldn't talk, but they sure were able to put up a small tussle. Ditto had considered going against the Jerk or Big Blue a few times, but decided against it in the end. The Jerk was a scary kid, and he wasn't sure if his partner had the time to spare anymore.

A man of action, that was what Big Blue was about to become very soon. Ditto was almost certain about it.

" _Well then,"_ said Ditto, _"I guess it's just that. But moving on, how do you feel about accompanying me on a few adventures? I can't guarantee much, but I can assure I'll do my best to keep you alive!"_ Ditto had hastily changed subject when he saw the water-type's restlessness becoming more and more noticeable and dreaded they would flee out of embarrassment or shame.

The last bit had been announced proudly, and Ditto realized he had his general chest area puffed up, much like how a cocky Honchkrow would.

It was like a promise, one made to every one of his travel partners at the beginning of their partnership. One he almost never failed to keep. As such, he took a great amount of pride in it. It wasn't like it wasn't just anybody who could lead an Eevee with close to no combat experience through mazes of dark caves beneath the sea and come out completely unscathed, not to mention with the area completely explored.

 _(Though she did have to deal with a few indigestions afterwards. Thus how we discovered she had low tolerance for seaweed and anything of the sort. But even then, it sure was a wild ride from beginning to the end!)_

Remoraid's whole complexion brightened, even going as far as openly displaying a yearning for… something. Attention? Love? Adventure? Food?

Whatever it was, Ditto wasn't about to ask him. He wasn't all that insensitive. Sometimes.

" _Ah, y-you really mean it? I can stick with you and we could actually become friends? You… you really,_ _ **really**_ _mean it? Sincerely? Can I? C-can I… can I join you on your… adventures? Please? I'll be good, ah, I can promise…"_

Ditto had to suppress to outwardly wince. _'That bad…?'_

Nevertheless, Ditto wasn't one to refuse a willing travel partner, even if said partner couldn't do much outside of water. He could come up with a solution or another later on. Probably. Maybe. He'll see.

" _Then it's decided! You're coming on with me on my journey across the world!"_ proclaimed Ditto, smiling broadly and feeling the faint buzz of excitement starting to well up. _"First stop: Kintaro village! Because I have some business to attend there and I've heard they sell a lot of cool things there. The river should diverge later on, and we'll take on the right side to arrive at our destination."_

Ditto then turned his back to Remoraid and pointed—more of a vague gesture, really—towards the sky. _"Chip!"_ he announced merrily, _"Are ye' ready? Our mini-expedition starts… now!"_

" _Ah…? Blue! Y-you… I think you forgot your gift on the grass! Blue! W-wait up!"_

* * *

" _So… what's your gender?"_ asked Ditto, once again a human, steadily walking along the shore with a goofy smile stretched across his face.

" _Uh?"_

" _I mean, do you have a—?"_ Ditto tried again, only to get cut off.

" _I-I know what you mean!"_ riposted Chip hurriedly, flustered. _"Ah, sorry for raising my voice… But I'm a male, if it helps."_

" _Huh. Cool. I'm technically agender, but people who are uncomfortable with it often refer to me as a male,"_ said Ditto. _"I also sometimes get referred as a female when using a feminine body. It never bothered me much anyways, it's just that it might confuse a few people,"_ he added with a shrug.

" _Ah, I see…"_

They continued so, both of them trading questions and answers along the way, travelling at a sedated pace and stopping once in a while for break when needed. Mostly for Chip. Chip had a surprisingly weak stamina for being able to outrun a Sharpedo, but then again, it might have been because he was currently swimming upstream.

 _(I swear, you and your jokes. —_ _ **Water you talking about? —**_ _Seriously. —_ _ **Hey! It's not like anybody would have noticed it you haven't mentioned it! And I'm sure they still aren't aware of it. Probably. It's pretty well hidden.**_ _)_

At some point, the conversations died off and they resolved to wander side by side in companionable silence, both having lost themselves in their own thoughts.

Finding another Pokémon here was great, ecstatic, even, but his cash deficit still persisted. It was either he went to mug some harmless rich noble who wouldn't miss those few coins and bills that much, find a part time job or take a few odd jobs here and there.

None of them sounded especially appealing.

Well.

That certainly left Ditto with a vast array of choices.

The easier and most convenient choice would be finding someone out here, preferably traveling alone and with close to no self-defense measure to steal from. Employment wasn't all that easy to find and he wasn't sure where to go to find small tasks. Sure, it was easy as an unregistered explorer, but that was because most of them were displayed on billboards, and everyone was free to take them. If only humans could make it as easy…

If only they could create a collective place to gather them all up, and not make it solely reserved for ninja, life right now would be much easier for Ditto.

Blowing on a stray bang that fell on his face, Ditto wondered. There was a certain hypothesis he wanted to put to the test, and what better time to do it now, where no one was around?

He had once read, sometime before bumping into who would become his current not-travel-yet partner, that all beings possessed this energy called _chakra_. As it turned out, Ditto was able to locate anything radiating of this chakra by sending out a weak wave of his own energy and getting feedback from the 'echo' of the pulse. Humans, plants, animals from this region, yes, he was able to sense them, but what about _Pokémon_?

He was already sceptic about he himself possessing chakra, but now…

Now there was another Pokémon with him!

That meant he could—!

" _Ah, uh, Little Blue? You're smiling really creepily at nothing…"_ murmured Chip gently, eyeing Ditto with his head bobbing up and down, doing his best to have his head afloat while swimming. _"And you're also drooling on your gift."_

It was just then he caught the feeling of the dribble running down his chin and tried his best to wipe off all the saliva off with his sleeve, but just ended up reabsorbing all the liquid back into his body.

 _(Liquid, not saliva anymore. Any part of my body that loses contact with the main frame during a transformation just ends up reverting back to goop. Hah… I should probably work on that sometime.)_

" _Oh, oops. Thanks for telling me!"_ said Ditto absentmindedly. If he assumed correctly, then it should have no reaction whatsoever on Chip.

Hopefully.

Ditto released a small pulse, smaller than what he was normally used to. He didn't need to stretch out his senses this time, so why bother? Doing so would just unnecessarily waste his energy, how ever meager the amount might have been.

Chip jolted from his position and swiveled his whole body to face Ditto, latching himself on one of the few stones pocking out of the water to make sure he wouldn't get swept away by the current.

" _Ah, ah, did you feel that? Unless I'm imagining sensations…"_

But Ditto paid no mind to it, choosing instead to focus on the delayed feedback he was getting. The less energy channeled into the pulse, the more time it would take to return to the user. Or at least, that was what it seemed to him. Ditto might be wrong, but unless it was disproven, he'll stick with it.

And…

Nothing! He was right! Instead of feeling a ripple, or even just a small wrinkle, his pulse passed right over Chip, as if he didn't even exist. Pokémon did not, in fact, possess chakra! Which lead to the conclusion that this place _was_ totally separate from the known regions, and these regions—countries—might really be located in a distinct world apart from the one he knew, and whatever or whoever sent both of them here must had have enough power to tear across dimensions.

And boy did that narrow the possible perpetrators.

From what Ditto had read from the various books, dubious scriptures and a stolen Pokédex _(returned to its rightful owner after I went through all the entries)_ , there could be three possibilities. Four, if one also took account of humans.

First, it could have been Giratina who did who-knew-what and somehow kerfuckled the whole situation. Second, it could have been that someone or something pissed Palkia off, and they decided someone would pay for it. Third but not least, somehow, somewhere in one of the many regions around the world, a Gardevoir created a black hole and that, by some means, happened to also tear the walls of the universe and Ditto and Chip had been the unfortunate chosen ones to have been hurled through that tear.

 _(But if it's another human trying to play god and epically failing at it, I swear…!)_

" _-ue? Little Blue? Are… are you all right?"_ mumbled Chip, now prudently perched on top of the rock. An odd sight, but definitely not the weirdest Ditto had seen.

" _Oh, just thinking,"_ dismissed Ditto. _"And you did realize you're not in known territory anymore, right? This area is completely new to you and me."_ Not even letting Chip the time to answer, Ditto carried on. _"But that's not really what I wanted to ask you. See, I'm just checking something… Say, the sensation you felt earlier, was it this?"_

Ditto sent out another pulse, careful to keep it at the same intensity. Another thing he wanted to test out was the control he had over the intensity of it, to see his approximate margin of error when having to delicately limit his range. Not exactly useful, but it was still interesting to know.

Chip slowly nodded, making his body rock up and down and ended up losing balance and falling back into the water.

Ditto carefully stifled a snort of laughter with his hand, turning his head away from the scene. He couldn't deny the expression Chip had was hilarious, but couldn't help but feel bad about him.

 _(Not to mention that Remoraid are in general pretty… uh… their almost constant open mouths are kind of funny.)_

Ditto suddenly froze, finally taking notice of the small ripple felt from the pulse's rebound.

Human.

Human with a small, commonplace ripple, but still feeling healthy and alive. Meaning still healthy and young.

And probably with money.

Lone traveler, maybe? A civilian who didn't bother to hire anyone to protect him, that was for sure.

 _Hehe. No time like right now._

With a mischievous smile, Ditto deposited his package on the ground and asked Chip to guard it. After receiving the okay, he swiftly shifted into a familiar canine body and slowly made his way towards the possibly-man-maybe-woman, doing his best to stay hidden.

* * *

" _It's just a prank, bro!"_ cackled Ditto in glee, snatching up the merchant's glaringly exposed coin pouch carelessly hanging from the side.

Pointedly ignoring the merchant's outraged scream and rather awkward attempt at retrieval, Ditto swiftly disappeared into the ambient undergrowth once more.

* * *

 _Kisame_

Kisame had thought long and hard, but still couldn't put his finger on _how in the heavens he got roped into this_.

"Tell me honestly and sincerely, _why are we in your clan compound, hiding in a bush and stalking one of your clan members_?" hissed Kisame softly, crouched behind the small foliage and trying to keep track of their target's movements.

"Because," Mangetsu drawled, "you were totally out of it after our genjutsu training and weren't paying attention at whatever."

Oh right.

Hoshiko-sensei's brutal training.

He lightly rubbed his hand over his throat, still feeling the unreal ice needles piercing through his jugular, as well as various other lethal spots. It wasn't the only illusion Kisame had difficulty breaking. Though honestly, he had a hard time getting out of most of them.

Currently, Kisame was just as good as a fish out of water in genjutsu.

The fact that Mei came out unscathed from them still baffled him.

While sporting no physical injuries, the genjutsu had still left him with his ears ringing, a massive headache and being disorientated all day long. In fact, he could still hear the faint incessant buzz annoying him to no end.

(He felt like this might be the beginning of a fear of flying insect sounds.)

Mangetsu waved off Kisame's disgruntled expression and pressed a finger close to his mouth. "Now shush! This one lovely guy owes me something, and he didn't return it after due date. And you know how things work here."

They both stayed immobile, watching a specific Hozuki Kisame still didn't know the name of disappear after rounding a corner.

Mangetsu shuffled closer to Kisame, cupping a hand around his mouth.

"Psst. Kisa-san. So here's the plan. I asked one of my older cousins a favor, and she agreed to give me an item for free. Your task would be to retrieve it for me while I go prepare and booby trap his room. She owns a hardware shop kinda thing two streets away to the left from here. It doesn't really stand out, but it's pretty much the only shop on the street. I'll give you the directions to the house, and I'll be waiting for you in front of the door."

Kisame nodded. It wasn't complicated, and as much as he was miffed at the current situation, it was a nice change to his usual days. He could almost call it relaxing, if it didn't involve actively shadowing a stranger because a teammate decided to prank said stranger because of an unresolved dispute from some time ago.

"And before I forget!" whisper-shouted Mangetsu, "I set up a secret password with her just in case anybody decided to steal the thing from me. It's…"

* * *

"Misumi sucks because… because he's such a huge sack of crap," whispered out Kisame through gritted teeth, hoping his glare would mask the embarrassment showing itself on his face.

The woman's slight quirk of her lips indicated that Mangetsu actually set a goddamn idiotic code with her, and he wasn't just messing with Kisame. "So our little Mangetsu-chan got himself a delivery boy, huh?" It wasn't quite a smile, but more of a lopsided grin of some sort, partly revealing a row of sharp teeth. "I'll come right back to you in a dash, so stay put where nothing could kill you!"

The woman who had presented herself as Suki earlier on made a small 'I'm-looking-at-you' gesture while walking backwards toward the back of the shop.

Kisame followed her with his eyes, watching her go through a door which he assumed lead to the storage room or something of the sort.

He looked around, taking in the various tools, materials both raw and refined, and other miscellaneous items and lining the walls.

For a moment, he wondered how she could have afforded all the equipment, materials and everything else he was seeing. It then dawned unto him that she was indeed, along with Mangetsu and just about all Hozuki, part of the Noble Clans of Kirigakure.

That explained most of it. It could have also been that her parents were successful shinobi.

A moment later, the woman came back with a large but thin rectangular piece wrapped in cloth in tow. She dropped it into Kisame's open hands, none too gently, but still making sure it wouldn't fall down.

"Here you go, delivery boy. And do make sure you're careful with that thing; it's pretty fragile." Shen then reached into a pocket and pulled out a few coins, handing them to him. "It's not much, but consider it as a thank you for putting up with my lil' cousin's shit."

"Thanks," he acknowledged and slipped them into an opening of the cloth.

The only step left was to hand it in to Mangetsu.

Now, if only he could find a way to safely lug this to their meeting point…

* * *

Carrying it on his back certainly wasn't his brightest plan, Kisame thought. Yet another way to promote chronic back pain.

The meeting spot was Mangetsu's unfortunate victim's house. Or at least, that was what Kisame thought. It should be, since it would make the whole set-up easier and more effective, not to mention more logical if it was, instead of an unknown Hozuki's front door.

The door suddenly opened, revealing a smug Mangetsu in all his glory.

"Kisa-san!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air, "You found the last component of our masterplan!"

Kisame eyed Mangetsu doubtfully, but handed him the rectangular piece nonetheless. Having already removed the few coins from the cloth and feeling curious, he asked Mangetsu. "What's even wrapped under that fabric? Hozuki-san said that it was fragile."

"Hozuki-san? You mean Suki? Because just about everybody here are Hozuki. And you didn't even take a peek at it? Man, you're a lot more invested in this that I thought. But for your question, it's a glass panel. Easy to install, and just thin enough to shatter at medium force impact. Perfect for today. Yes, perfect…" He snickered, gaining a strange glint in his eyes.

Internally, Kisame prayed for the unnamed Hozuki's safety. Or not exactly unnamed, but Kisame wasn't sure if Mangetsu was referring to this specific person when he mentioned the name 'Misumi'.

"'Wanna come to watch?" Mangetsu looked at Kisame expectantly, but only raised his eyebrows at his refusal. Kisame had other things to do, and watching someone pranking another person wasn't on his list. "Aw, come on! But I guess that's boring Kisa-san for you. See ya!"

Mangetsu sent a two-fingered salute and gently closed the door, leaving Kisame at the doorsteps.

As Kisame was about to leave the premise, he froze as a thought struck him.

On second thought, watching from afar didn't seem to be such a bad idea.

* * *

A heavy thud followed by a sharp crash resounded through the air.

" _Come back here, you fucker!_ " bellowed out a muffled voice from the house, soon drowned out by a loud obnoxious laughter.

The front door suddenly slammed open and Mangetsu shot forward, clutching in his hands what seemed to be a remnant of the glass panel's wrapping.

With an inadvertent awkwardly prolonged eye contact, Mangetsu winked at Kisame, and he couldn't help but give a small crooked grin. The guy's joy was simply infectious, even if it was to the detriment of another.

That, and he'll admit that the whole prank had a certain charm to it, if not being painful enough.

He had perched himself on one of the neighboring trees as Mangetsu arranged the remaining components, having a more than satisfying view on the scene. A small wooden table placed over the sleeping victim, just as to leave a small gap between the head and the underneath of the table, as well as the thin glass pane installed between the doorframe of the bedroom at eye height promised a rough waking.

Needless to say, the butt of the prank certainly wasn't overjoyed with Mangetsu.

Incidentally, said butt of the prank slowly walked out of the house, completely soaked from head to toe and cradling a bleeding forehead, and sporting a downright furious expression.

Thankfully for Mangetsu, he had long ran out of sight and whisked himself elsewhere, probably splitting his sides in some hidden alley of his'.

It wasn't until the last minute that Kisame noticed somebody creeping up on him, and couldn't help but jolt when someone poked him on the shoulder.

Thankfully, he stopped himself before he could elbow whoever thought it would have been a good idea to surprise him, be it genin or not.

"What are you doing up in a tree?" asked Mei innocently, visibly amused at his reaction. "It's not every day I see a guy like you perched up amongst the branches like a bird."

"Same could be asked to you," grumbled out Kisame, but still complied to answer. "I was accompanying Mangetsu for his prank. For some reason." Kisame let his gaze wander back to the maybe-unnamed Hozuki's fuming form as he clacked the door shut.

"On Misumi, I supposed? If I recall correctly, Mangetsu did hold a grudge against him for more or less sketchy reasons," she mused. "Talking about the boy, did you see Mangetsu anywhere? Training tomorrow starts at noon instead of morning, just so you know. I need to relay it to him before he gets the idea of barging into my house early in the morning."

"Last I've seen of him, he was running off to somewhere after he completed his… attack. Veered to the right and took off at the second house from the left."

After giving a quick 'thank you', she jumped off from the branch and continued her search for their third teammate, leaving Kisame in the tree, alone once again.

A moment of mulling over what to do, he concluded he could give the Kid a visit or two. He was seeing him more and more infrequently, juggling between team business, training with shishou and just mindless dawdling.

That was, if he was even at the training ground. Kisame didn't know where he lived, nor did he have any particular interest in knowing for now.

Well, it wasn't like it would hurt to take a look.

* * *

Walking along a small path leading to the training ground, he wondered. Where had Ditto gone to? Kisame remembered them saying having developed a love for travelling… Hopefully, they wouldn't try to cross the sea separating the Water Country from the other surrounding countries on their own. That wouldn't be a wise decision, shapeshifting free-form blue slime or not. The current was strong, and so were the winds.

Going alone surely wasn't wise.

Kisame stuck his head out from between the trees, peering around the field.

Empty, spare for the few logs used as training targets.

He let out a disappointed breath and t—

Kisame instinctively dropped to the ground, narrowly missing being impaled in the forehead.

A figure, shorter than his own, dropped from one of the tree, landing softly on the ground a few paces away from him.

"Kid," Kisame called out, "are you trying to kill me or something?"

"In a way, yes."

Kisame snorted. "Then you still have a long way to go, Kid."

With that, Zabuza launched himself towards Kisame, with full intent of at least landing a good few hits.

Kisame slipped easily into his offensive stance, not about to let Zabuza have the first strike.

Maybe a bit of sparring might be able to distract him from the irritating buzzing in his ears.

* * *

 _Ditto_

" _Hey, Chip?"_ chirped Ditto, _"how was your life before…"_ He made a vague gesture of the hand, human once again. _"All of this happened?"_

" _Ah, it was… it was standard,"_ he replied. _"Regular. Peaceful— well, unless it comes. Then we usually disperse in small groups and regroup once the threat is gone. Then life continues."_ Chip fell silent for a brief few seconds, before carrying on. _"Ah, ah, how boring and miserable it was."_

Ditto simply hummed.

He continued walking, and Chip continued swimming.

Silence fell, and wanting to spark another conversation, Ditto felt he could also share a part of his life.

" _Mine was far from boring. I travelled all the time! Was it… er, seven regions? Eight? Normally explored while partnered with someone else. Not a dull moment in life when having all the possibilities open up to you! Or maybe just a few. Or maybe a bit more than just a few. But that doesn't matter!"_

Chip looked up, a small awed expression settling on his face.

" _Impressive, huh? And now that we're partners…"_ A conspiratorial smile broke out on his face, and Ditto leaned closer to the water. _"We're going to conquer the world one day."_

* * *

 **Alright, so here's the thing; I was trying to get a coat from my closet, but I unfortunately fell inside and got transported to another world. It took some time to get around and find an exit to that world, but here I am! Back and not exactly all that fine! (I'm wading waist-deep in school projects and exams right now, so I haven't had a lot of time to work on this. It also doesn't help when you're the only one working in group projects.)**

 **This chapter is a bit more on the shorter size compared to the previous one, but hey, at least there's the introduction of another Pokémon? I actually didn't plan to insert him here, but it kind of just happened. A bit more filler-y stuff happens on Kisame's side, but it should pick up the pace in the next chapters or so.**

 **(On another note, I've just set up a poll on my profile about chapter length and update speed preferences. If you could go take a look and maybe even vote, it would be wonderful!)**

 **Reviews and suggestions are always appreciated!**

 **P.-S.: I wish you all a very spoopy Halloween!**

 **P.P.-S.: Poll is still up, and I'm getting pretty desperate. Does anyone even read the A/N anymore?**


	18. Gifts

I do not own Naruto, nor do I own Pokémon.

* * *

 _Ditto_

" _Do you ever get tired?"_

Ditto turned an inquisitive look to Chip. _"What do you mean? You have to be more specific, Chip."_

" _A-ah, sorry…"_ he muttered. _"I meant, do you ever tire physically? Since I never see you sleep or voluntarily take a break."_

Ditto blinked once, then twice. _"Oh. That."_ He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, thinking about a way to formulate his answer. _"Well… I do, but at the same time, not really."_ Seeing Chip's face screwing up in confusion, Ditto clarified on the subject. _"If I completely exhaust my energy reserves, I immediately go belly-up and lose whatever form I was taking, not to mention that it'd probably be lights out for the rest of the time period needed to recover. But if it's just simply moving and thinking, I could probably go on till doomsday comes. I don't really tire in ways other people normally would. Hope it helps."_

Ditto watched as Chip's body bobbed up and down against the current, diving down and resurfacing every now and then. Curiously, he was reminded of submarines and unexperienced pilots, and also, for a reason or another, prisons, of all things.

Something about going down instead of up and weird giant not-animals beating up people.

 _(_ _ **Huh. That's weird. —**_ _Shouldn't I be the one saying that?)_

" _Ah, but then,"_ Chip went on, _"do you ever get lonely during nights? Since we would be asleep, but you're left wide awake."_ He stopped swimming forward, prompting Ditto to halt in his steps. _"A-ah! Sorry if I was rude,"_ he quickly added, head dipped back into the water.

Ditto dismissed the apology like he always had in the past few days. Insecure could pretty much summarize Chip's whole demeanor. _"I normally just find a way to preoccupy myself, and if that happened to fail, I just keep watch for any predators or potential danger."_

" _Preoccupy yourself?"_

Ditto shrugged, a gesture he had come to appreciate in bipedal forms. It wasn't exactly possible when on all four and it was barely noticeable in his gelatinous body. _"You know, trying to recall emplacements of various landmarks, making sure you wouldn't get swept away by the current, trying to reconstruct a bowl with minimum lighting, picturing maps and scribbling them on the floor. The usual."_

It wasn't exactly loneliness he would feel. Maybe something leaning more towards boredom? Ditto wasn't sure, but it didn't exactly matter; he would always find something to work on. Personal projects, maps, figuring out what his body was made out of, counting the stolen money, minutely watching Chip's eyes to see if he would blink during his sleep, picturing Big Blue's face as he realized one of his ornamented bowls disappeared without a trace, and much more.

There wasn't really any reason for Ditto to be bored during the night, and it wasn't like not having someone to talk to for a few hours would have any negative impact on him.

 _(What I can say is that you don't really count as someone to talk to. No offence. —_ _ **Rude. But none taken.**_ _)_

" _Ah, so you don't mind stopping in-between our path?"_ asked Chip, eyes shifting to look upwards.

" _Nope! Not a single problem."_

And with that, the conversation died off once more and they settled on continuing the route side by side, with only short exchanges and small comments punctuating long bouts of silence.

This definitely wasn't what Ditto had expected from a short voyage, but it certainly wasn't unwelcomed.

* * *

From the few days Ditto shared with Chip, he had already established a few of his behaviors and tendencies, and being self-assured and courageous weren't included in them.

" _Do I really have to stay here? Couldn't I… ah, couldn't I just go with you?"_ asked Chip meekly. _"I promise I won't be a bother…"_

Ditto sighed in exasperation and sat down on the humid grass. Chip had started to make a fuss when he Ditto had announced that they would split ways only for a bit, for maximum a day or two. It wasn't all that of a big deal; best case scenario, he would be back in a few hours. Worst case scenario, some divine intervention would cause him to fall in the space in between dimensions and he would get stuck there.

 _(Not that it would actually happen… Lightning might be able to strike a same tower over fifty times, but being flung into another dimension? That's really pushing it… —_ _ **Well, you never know. There might be a miracle worker up there. —**_ _I really doubt it could be considered as a miracle.)_

" _Lookie here, Chip,"_ started Ditto, _"you already told me your skin cracks when out of water for too long, and one of the last things we want here is for you to get injured during an apparently harmless errand. It's not really worth it, and didn't you say you were scared of humans? I'm about to go in a village full of them."_

Chip stammered out a few incomprehensible words before going completely silent.

Curious and slightly concerned for the sudden lack of words, Ditto lowered his upper body so that he could look directly at eye-level at Chip.

Whatever Ditto had expected to see, it certainly wasn't a small spark of courage in those beady eyes. It was a small flicker, almost insignificant, but he still caught wind of it.

It was either that, or the sun was giving off a fine sheen on his eyes worthy of that from a cheesy movie centered on friendship. Like a mini sunrise compacted into two small marbles on a milky white background.

 _(Slightly weird and definitely unnerving on Chip's face.)_

" _B-but I have to!"_ proclaimed Chip, louder than Ditto though he would ever be able to achieve. _"If… if I want to stick with you, I have to be brave! I need to…"_ He faltered mid-sentence and stared Ditto dead in the eyes.

The next thing Ditto knew, his wet face sported a Remoraid-shaped imprint, and a jittery Chip was lying in his laps, rattling one apology after another.

"… _sorry! I-I didn't think I would actually hit you. I just wanted to show you… I just wanted…"_

The next words were uttered with such resolve that Ditto couldn't help but grin.

" _Bring me with you."_

* * *

Thinking back on it, it might have not been Ditto's best decision, but there wasn't much he could do about it now.

 _(Note to self: don't act on impulse the next time.)_

Chip was currently residing inside of Ditto's sleeve, the temporary dweller soaking it periodically with tiny jets of water to keep his skin moisturized.

Irksome, but it did the job.

 _(As a wise man once said, if it looks stupid but it works, it ain't stupid. —_ _ **…?**_ _)_

Save for the few villagers eyeing the drooping, wet sleeve with varying levels of curiosity and amusement, everything was going just dandy.

After asking around for the whereabouts of the artisan, Ditto found himself standing outside of a well decorated house. Red lanterns hung from the upturned roof and various ornamented ceramic art pieces littered the area around the main door.

Ditto jolted in surprise as one of the doors abruptly slid open, revealing a tired woman twirling a smoking pipe in her hand. With a hakama over kimono and her brown hair tied messily in a bun with strands sticking out from everywhere, Ditto could say that the chances she pulled an all-nighter for a reason or another concerning her profession were pretty high.

" _Miss—"_ started Ditto, only to interrupt himself to switch languages. Arceus, he was really losing his grip. "Sorry about that. Sore throat," he covered up. "Fuji, am I right?"

She snorted, before promptly coughing up puffs of smoke. "Sore throat? Yeah right. I don't think you click your tongue when you have a sore throat," she wheezed, thumping a fist to her chest. "But yeah, you found the mighty missus artisan. Let me guess, you're also here to commission me something?"

"Yep!" Ditto confirmed jubilantly, partially unwrapping the cloth of his package. "I accidentally broke a bowl, and someone recommended you to me."

The now confirmed Fuji stuck her pipe in her mouth and swiped up the bundle from Ditto's hands to inspect it closer.

"Yeah, it's pretty cracked up, all right." She stroked her chin and nodded to herself, as if what she had said wasn't obvious enough. "Unless you're willing to pay extra or want it to simply be stapled together, I'm probably going to finish it in three weeks or so. I still have a few clients who came before you for other stuff, and it's first come first served. Unless there's more money involved; everything is negotiable with money here."

"Everything…?"

"That's just the way it is." She shrugged and headed back inside. "Now come on in if you want to do some business stuff."

* * *

 _Mei_

They stood face to face with each other, standing not too far from a secluded house.

"From the bottom of my heart, _no_ , I'm not going along with your plan," she repeated tightly. "I'm seriously reconsidering my choice in friends right now."

"Why must you hurt me so?" he whined in mock-hurt, pressing a hand on his chest. "Come _oooon_ , it's gonna be fun!"

Staring at Mangetsu's rather failed attempt at doe eyes, Mei wondered how this guy even made any friends at all. Already that Kirigakure had never really encouraged the formation of strong bonds between students, Mangetsu's whole demeanor wasn't much of anyone's personal preference.

Then again, Mangetsu was a huge dork who was actually not half bad in combat and was a great mood reliever. Kami knew how Mei needed someone like him in this excuse of a hidden village.

"If you insist, then," she relented, letting Mangetsu grab her hand and drag her closer to the house. "But only on one condition."

That prompted her longtime friend to stop in his tracks and send a curious gaze in her way.

Mei squeezed his hand not too gently and smiled just sweetly enough, watching a small trickle of sweat run down Mangetsu's face.

"Just don't do anything stupid."

* * *

"This is stupid," she hissed through clenched teeth. "This whole scheme of yours is _so_ stupid. Why did I even agree on this?"

Mei stood by the wall of a house, supporting Mangetsu on her shoulders. She oscillated side to side every time Mangetsu made any brusque or exaggerated actions, coming close to falling over many times more than what she would have preferred.

Without warning, Mangetsu jerked backwards, nearly sending Mei toppling over. Hooray for upper body strength and good equilibrium.

"I got the window opened!" whispered Mangetsu none too quietly. Mei sure could bet that if unless the person was asleep, they would have no difficulties whatsoever hearing him. "Could you give me a boost so I can get inside?"

Mei grumbled under her breath but complied nonetheless, sending the Hozuki vaulting over the window sill. The world might never know why the windows of the house were built so high up. Not to mention that the whole building was… less than aesthetically pleasing.

Or better yet, how in the world did whoever who decided to do a paint job over a perfectly fine house get their hands on orange paint?

After having been given the all clear, she jumped on the ledge and let herself drop on the wooden floorboards softly.

"While we're at it, we should probably also remove our sandals," whispered Mei, walking around to find the front door. "Just to not be too disrespectful. We did break into his house, after all."

"I think I prefer the term 'paying a friend a friendly visit without asking for the friend's permission first' better."

As they both shrugged off their sandals at the genkan, Mei noticed small stains around the front area.

"Are those… paw prints?"

"Oh right, apparently, he owns a dog," Mangetsu replied, mindful to keep his voice low for once. "It got itself lost about two weeks ago or so, and he's been kind of grouchy about it." Mangetsu paused, striking a contemplative look. Mei thought such a serious expression looked odd on his face, but she wouldn't complain as long as he wasn't planning anything devious. "I think he might also have a younger sibling," he continued, "or a close person younger than him."

A loud thump interrupting any incoming thoughts or comments, the two genin's attention drawn to the sound.

If one observed close enough, they would be able to see the collective 'oh shit' flashing repeatedly through both of their eyes.

* * *

 _Kisame_

Kisame groaned, putting a scroll that fell on his face back to its designated location. Granted, hurling it towards the nearest wall wasn't exactly a wise and well-thought decision—if the small dent was anything to go by—but it had it coming.

Waking up by falling projectiles wasn't exactly what he would call a preferred wake up method. Especially when involving shinobi.

In fact, he would rather not wake up at all today. Having a large chakra reserve didn't exactly equate to having unlimited stamina, and one could only endure back to back to back days of training before their muscles decided to abandon on everything. As a matter of fact, they still were aching, and will probably continue to for the next few days or so.

On the bright side, Kisame was now able to manipulate kusarigama and various other chain weapons with varying levels of proficiency.

As he was getting dressed, a smell of burnt prickled his nose. Did he forget to turn off the stove yesterday?

Kisame hurried and reached out to open his door, when he realized that he hadn't used the stove for anything since graduation. That could only mean two things. Either someone broke into his house to use it, or he wound up in the wrong house. Neither of the two options sounded more appealing than the other.

His door suddenly blasted open, leaving him no time to wonder on the subject. He jumped back, letting the shards and splinters of charred wood fall harmlessly on the ground, and—

" _HAPPY BIRTHDAY!_ "

—out stumbled Mangetsu, who was closely followed by Mei. A small platter containing… _something_ was held between her hands, and Kisame could only guess it was either oddly shaped pieces of charcoal or the result of someone's unsuccessful attempt at cooking.

It explained the smell though, and Kisame wasn't sure if he should be relieved about or not. But that also prompted other questions, such as…

"How in the world did you two know today was my birthday? _And what are you two doing in my house?!_ " The latter might have come out slightly hysterically, but Kisame had other things to worry about. Say, for example, how Mangetsu and Mei managed to find where he lived.

"Sensei, of course," responded Mangetsu with a roll of his eyes. "Where else?" He then paused, as if to wait to see if Hoshiko-sensei would magically appear out of thin air to correct him. When nothing happened, he resumed talking. "And isn't it obvious? We came to celebrate your birthday, just like any friends would!"

"By breaking into my house?"

"By trying to make some sort of pastry, actually," cut in Mei smoothly, gesturing to the tray with her chin. "We weren't really sure what you liked, so Mangetsu dearest here cooked up something for you. Or incinerated, if you wanted to go into…" she trailed off, staring at a spot behind Kisame. "Uh… you might want to look behind you before you get a nasty surprise."

Following her advice, Kisame shifted from his position to…

Oh dear.

Kisame pointedly _did not scream_ when he made eye contact with an upside head dangling from outside his window, peering inside with wide, unmoving eyes. Their messy inky black hair in a tangle and with a smile showing more teeth than Kisame would have preferred, the image looked like it belonged more in a horror story than reality.

No one moved; no one dared to move. The only sounds heard on the room were the head's heavy breathing and the rustle of the leaves from outside.

Kisame continued to stare into their eyes, a sense of familiarity nagging at the back of his mind.

Shock faded into incredulity as Kisame finally recognized the face he was looking at.

"H-Hoshiko-sensei? But… what?" he spluttered weakly. His morning was just getting stranger and stranger by the second.

The head's strange—and admittedly slightly deranged—smile morphed into a pleased grin, confirming Kisame's assumption. "You got it, birthday boy!" In one fluid motion, she grabbed onto the top of the window frame and swung herself inside, crashing right into Kisame.

Or would have, if he hadn't stepped aside and let Mangetsu take the full brunt of the impact.

"It's really a wonder what a bad hair day could do to you," chirped their sensei, trying to rearrange her hair with her hands. "And you!" she exclaimed, whirling around and pointing an accusatory finger at Mangetsu. "It is _Hoshiko_ -sensei. I have a name, you know, and it sure would be great if you used it."

Mangetsu simply shrugged, although the action seemed slightly strained. Not all that surprising, seeing that Hoshiko had basically all but dropkicked him in the midsection not even moments ago.

"And now that that's done and today _is_ your annual celebration for your arrival in this world and I do consider myself as a rather _chill_ and lenient person, I've decided we could all take today off." She spun on her heels, spreading her arms in a grand flourish. "In fact, I do have a few small events organized for today, but do feel free to veto them. Today's your day, after all!"

"This is great and all," interjected Mei, "but what do we do with this… parody of a cake?"

Mei was looking at the burnt pile of maybe-flour-and-eggs in pity, a clear expression of 'please put this thing out of its misery' written all across her face.

Kisame watched as Hoshiko jabbed her finger into the dark mass and bringing it to her mouth with no hesitation whatsoever. The moment it came into contact with her tongue, however, the content was fiercely spat out, wet ashes on the floor.

"I think you should work on your cooking skills, Mangetsu," commented Mei casually.

Kisame grimaced at the sight. Maybe it tasted even worse than it looked, but right now, he just wished someone could repair his door and wipe the floor. Maybe he could do it after this whole mess was over with? He wouldn't trust Mangetsu to help him and while Kisame wholly wished Hoshiko was a responsible adult, he still had his doubts. He could ask Mei to help him, but…

Before anything could devolve anything further, Kisame heaved a sigh and called out, "Why don't we just get on with today?"

Maybe he prayed just hard enough, today wouldn't be so bad.

* * *

 _Ditto_

" _Man, who thought she would have noticed you?"_ whispered Ditto, carrying a few scrolls in one hand and fiddling his sleeve with the other. Chip was starting to fall out of it, though people around didn't seem to mind that much about seeing a man trying to stuff a fish back into his sleeve. Perhaps they had seen stranger things and odd occurrences became a routine here.

' _Maybe our worlds really aren't all that far apart.'_

Ditto barely took note of the small skips in his step, grinning and making sure his delivery wouldn't slip out of hands. Delivery, as in going to deliver a target item to a client. ( _Kind of like from a time before this mess happened.)_ Fuji had agreed to give him a small discount if he helped her with a few tasks. He couldn't help but wonder if he had been scammed, but he really couldn't care less.

' _Then again, it might be just me getting hopeful.'_

Chip squirmed from inside the cloth, starting to be bothered by the humidity and the heat from it.

" _A-ah, yeah… but her home reeked of smoke, so I really couldn't help it. Sorry,"_ murmured Chip. Ah yes, the ever apologetic Chip. Saying like it was his fault. _"She didn't look too surprised at me."_

" _Yep,"_ agreed Ditto offhandedly, _"she was surprisingly cool with you. Even suggested me a glasswork shop for an aquarium for you."_

That seemed to have landed Chip in an uncomfortable position, as he instantly went silent. On the other hand, Chip had never been a chatty one, and Ditto had barely known him for two weeks, so he didn't have enough information on him to evaluate if it was normal or not.

' _Maybe I could find someone or something that can distort space here. Parallel universes exist, and it's possible to cross in between them. We've had more than one case of them back home, so maybe it could also be possible here.'_

Just as Ditto reached his destination, a hand shot out from the half-opened door, snatching up the scrolls and leaving a small pile of coins in his hand.

He had been warned that the recipient had a dislike of going into the open, but he didn't know it went _that_ far.

Either way, that's another task completed.

' _I'd say it's rather possible that something could have the power to do it. If certain Pokémon could, then these humans must have found a way to bend space. After all, they love challenging the laws of the universe.'_

Ditto returned to Fuji's house. The bowl should be done by now, and he would pay the second half of the payment due. Fuji said that it worked like so to avoid getting the customers too angry if they were unhappy with the result. Half of the payment was to be given when the order was placed and the second half would be given after the completion of the product if the customer was satisfied with it.

A win-lose situation for the client, but the artisan will most likely than not benefit from it.

Useful, especially with a no-refund policy with most of the artisans here.

He slid open the door and stepped inside. A strong smell of incense and smoke permeated the air as he walked towards a figure clad in long robes. Her sleeves flittered around, hands grabbing and replacing various tools and items before snatching up a nearby pipe and drawing a deep breath from it.

Ditto wondered if the clothing was comfortable. It certainly looked to be, but would it obstruct her work? And what about her smoking? Would that influence her work in any way?

"Back already? I thought you would be out longer." Fuji turned around, nonchalantly blowing smoke out from her mouth. "Though your timing is okay. Not great, not perfect, but okay. I've finished your order a while ago." She handed Ditto the bowl, now restored and wrapped in red silk. "Plus a fancy wrapping. You don't really look like the type to have flowery pottery, so I thought it might have been a friend's. Count it as a bonus for helping me out."

Ditto unwrapped the bowl eagerly, but still paid mind to handle it carefully. No need to break it a second time.

And, well, he can't say he wasn't at least amazed by the craft.

The ornamented pieces were held together with a golden fill, giving the ceramic a certain feel of antiquity and grandeur. The golden hue seemed to have belonged there in the first place, the sinuous streaks slithering across the bowl in a perfect harmony with the patterned flowers and vines. The all was given a polished finish, making the shards and the fill glint in the light.

 _(_ _ **The golden age of this bowl, indeed.**_ _— I'm pretty sure you're using the term incorrectly, no? —_ _ **Just roll with it, bud, just roll with it. —**_ _I sometimes wonder if I could ever just kick you out.)_

"Impressed? That's what a fine craftsmanship paired up with resin and powdered gold can make you." Fuji offered a tired smile as she received the due payment, counting the coins before setting them down on her workbench. "Nice doing business with you. And just so you know, the glass work guy is two streets from here. If you ever make up your mind on it and decide to buy a fishbowl, just tell the owner I referred you to him. It'll make things easier for you."

Ditto flickered a brief glance at his sleeve, well aware of Chip's indecisiveness. He would have to make up his mind soon, or else Ditto might just make it for him.

"I'll… think about it. Thanks anyways."

* * *

 _Kisame_

Before this day, Kisame wasn't even sure about the existence of restaurants in Kiri. Maybe small food stalls and markets, but not restaurants. They didn't exactly have the money or the time to do that. Most funds went to weapon supplies and the more shinobi-oriented sections, and many, if not most, civilians were busy trying to get a decent lifestyle.

But apparently, it was a whole other story for members from the Noble Clans.

A caste society, that was what Ditto had said once. Status and rank determined at birth, with a few exceptions.

The contrast between clan members and non-clan civilians was even more distinct when Hoshiko-sensei led them to the front of a building looking much like a tiny pagoda.

"To be honest, that restaurant is total crap," pointed out sensei, gesturing to said tiny pagoda. "You know, with a whole bunch of money in our clan funds, one would think we would actually put it to good use and work with seafood with at least a minimal of freshness."

"I could always invite you three to eat at my house," said Mei. "Mom can whip up some pretty amazing dishes."

Hoshiko waved her off, a sly smile pulling at her lips. "Actually, I have a better idea. We're having a slight change of plans, squirts."

Mangetsu seemed to suddenly brighten—his expression as well as his whole body, somehow—at that, and Kisame wasn't sure if what Hoshiko had planned wouldn't involve breaking into someone else's house. She and Mangetsu both looked to be the type to randomly barge into any acquaintances' house. Kisame wouldn't be surprised if one day, they broke into a jounin's house.

By his side, Mei seemed to share a same sentiment, albeit with some slight exasperation mixed with it.

* * *

In retrospect, he should have seen this coming. _Always expect the unexpected_ , every shinobi knew that rule. And yet, he was still baffled at the sight presented to him.

Having the whole Squad Four seated around a small table in a serene fashion was something that deeply unsettled Kisame, especially seeing sensei and his Hozuki teammate calmly sipping their tea. Hoshiko-sensei had insisted for them to come over for the day, and Kisame had been surprised at how… _normal_ her house looked like.

Mei looked way better off than he was, simply leaning her head on the table and muttering under her breath.

Kisame wondered if daily absurdities were a common occurrence in clans.

He eyed his own cup of tea as the steam slowly rose from its surface. Unlike the two who were currently enjoying the beverage (they had been at it for a good few minutes; how was there even any left in their cup?), Kisame preferred to wait until he could actually take the cup in his hands without burning himself.

After a few moments of mostly obnoxiously loud sipping sounds and Mei's low mumbling, Kisame heard shuffling behind him. He turned around to see the newcomer, and…

He squinted at her, because if she was there… Wait, no, Hoshiko was still sipping her tea in an obnoxiously loud manner. So that meant…

"Sis! You're so late today it personally offends me! Just be thankful I won't be kicking your butt in front of my students today."

Faster than Kisame could blink, Hoshiko was already on her sister and squeezing her so tightly he swore her face was starting to turn to a slight shade of blue.

Fortunately, before their sensei could suffocate her sister to death, she retreated back to her initial seat in a flash, a bright grin on her face. She then drew out her arms, and before anyone could have protested, Hoshiko snapped her arms in and enveloped all three genin in a bone-crushing hug.

"These," she chirped merrily, "are my wonderful midgets of students I told you about!"

Kisame refrained from squawking in protest at the unexpected physical contact, but did recoil slightly when Mangetsu inadvertently spilled his hot tea over his clothing, as well as the rest of the squad's. Hoshiko didn't seem to mind all that much, but Mei, on the other hand…

Well, Kisame would give it to him that it certainly wasn't the stupidest thing he had ever done. By far.

"Hoshiko! You shouldn't handle your charges like that," berated sensei's sister, who was already up and about and taking long strides towards them, despite having taken the full brunt of a bear hug from a full-fledged jounin. "Just take a look at the poor Hozuki you're choking!"

True to her words, Kisame could see Mangetsu's body haven gone limp, his eyes starting to roll backwards. Being in the shorter side of the height spectrum sure didn't help his teammate in this situation. In a slightly bent over position, Hoshiko's arms came up respectively to Kisame's torso, Mei's collarbone and Mangetsu's neck.

It was a wonder how Mangetsu still managed to hold on to his tea cup given his half-conscious form.

Hoshiko-sensei swiftly released them, unabashed and still wearing a grin Kisame was starting to get suspicious of. It wasn't the lazy smile she usually wore or even her uncommonly seen bemused smile. This one was a lot more chipper and showing slightly too many teeth, much like the ones Mangetsu wore when he was about to enact one of his absurd schemes.

And wasn't that a comforting thought.

Feeling already tired in spite of having not even half a day gone by, he decided to introduce himself. The woman probably already knew all of their names, from the courtesy of Hoshiko-sensei, but having good manners could never hurt.

"Hoshigaki Kisame," he greeted with a dip of his head. "Pleasure meeting you."

"I'm Terumi Mei." She immediately followed through by grabbing Mangetsu by the shoulder. "And the unconscious white mop is Mangetsu, and I take it you already know his clan."

"And I'm Yuki Asa, otherwise known as your sensei's twin sister. Nice to meet you too," returned the woman, smiling in a much more sincere way than Hoshiko. "Seeing that it's almost noon, how about I cook up something for you all?"

Kisame cast an indecisive glance behind him, not sure if he should accept or not. He had almost never eaten outside of home and usually avoided eating anything he hadn't cooked up himself. Call him unreasonable, but it was somewhat hard not to after someone once poisoned his food as a prank.

Then again, would it be impolite to refuse when their sensei had planned this out?

(He wasn't sure if Hoshiko had actually planned it, but seeing her fist-pump the air after what her sister said, he thought she might have taken a gamble.)

"Sure," agreed both Kisame and Mei simultaneously. They then looked at each other, a silent 'Let's not do that ever again' being passed between the two genin.

* * *

If anyone would be to ask Kisame what could differentiate Mangetsu from any other person he had ever encountered, having a bottomless stomach would be one of the first thing he would mention.

Kisame had long lost count of how many bowls of rice he had devoured throughout the entire meal, but it had to be at least four or five times more than what he had.

Hoshiko came in close second, having eaten significantly less than Mangetsu in terms of rice, but had almost finished off every single dish containing any sort of meat or its derivatives.

Idly, Kisame wondered if their host minded that they were ravaging through her food stock like how a wildfire would rage through a forest of dried up tree carcasses. Which meant they were burning up enough food to probably last her at least a few months in a single meal.

If Asa was even the least bit bothered by that fact, she sure didn't show it. If anything, if Kisame saw right, he would even say that she was… pleased? He wasn't sure, but that was what he got from the glint in her eyes.

Kisame would admit that it was the best he had ever eaten in a long time, but that didn't exactly mean anything. It just meant that his own cooking skills were somewhat basic. Maybe he could ask her to teach him a thing or two after the day was over?

That seemed to be a good idea. If he wasn't mistaken, Kisame also saw a small garden behind her house in which a few vegetables grew. The ones they ate earlier were probably from there, then.

"So what now?" Mei twirled a chopstick in each hand, clearly bored. It would have been impressive if Kisame wasn't a shinobi. The two others were too busy stuffing their faces to notice, and Asa returned to the kitchen to prepare something else. The woman seemed oddly enthusiastic about 'emptying whatever Hoshiko filled the pantry with last week,' word for word from her mouth. "Hoshiko-sensei and Mangetsu are pigging out and Asa-san said that she wouldn't be finished for a long time."

Surely enough, the two aforementioned members of the team were in the middle of some sort of eating contest, their chopsticks blurring at intervals to snatch up the last piece of a dish.

Thankfully, they weren't at the stage of trying to snap the other's chopstick (yet). It would be extremely rude to damage their host's property.

"Feel free to walk around the compound." Asa's head peeked out from the kitchen. "Just don't wander too far off, alright? It wouldn't do any good if you two got lost in the streets."

Kisame looked to Mei, who simply shrugged. He took it as a silent confirmation and headed outside. Getting a few breaths of fresh air wouldn't harm anyone.

* * *

"So I heard you had a dog."

"Oh, uh… Yeah, something like that."

"I also heard you lost it."

"That's not what happened exactly…"

"Need help searching for it?"

"I think I'm fine on my own."

* * *

The walk was refreshing, if not somewhat awkward. They hadn't had anything to really talk about, and any attempt at small talk died out in a matter of seconds.

It still beat having to sit through Mangetsu's and sensei's self-hosted eating contest. Kisame wondered, were they finished by now? They were at it for quite a long time.

On second thought, he wouldn't be surprised if they were still gorging themselves with food. While he admitted that Asa's cooking was nothing short from being sensational, he wouldn't go as far as to… do whatever they were doing right now.

Really, half of his team were just children. Children with the ability to kill and maim people, yes, but still children.

After letting Asa know they were back, he was promptly greeted by the impressive sight of said children, both lounging passively on the floor with piles of plates stacked up high on the table.

The thought of the absurd amount of plates in the house quickly passed as Kisame realized that both of them had fallen asleep on the ground and managed to finish all the dishes Asa had prepared.

He would say it was quite the feat, but he really didn't want to praise someone for managing to knock themselves out with food.

So instead, Kisame contented on just fixing them with a thoroughly unimpressed stare.

(Whether they were aware of it or not didn't matter, it was the intention that counted. And right now, Kisame was intently staring at the two figures with as much intent he could possibly muster.)

"Oh! You two are back just in time," called out Asa from further back in the room. "The manju are just cooling down and ready to eat, so do help yourselves." She came by and greeted them amicably, making sure they didn't injure themselves outside.

(It was unfamiliar and odd, but no exactly unwelcomed. Kisame felt a pang of longing—jealousy? Envy?—at it. Was this how having a mother felt like?)

"What about Hoshiko-sensei and Mangetsu?" inquired Mei from behind.

"If your friend is anything like my sister, I doubt it'll be anything major. She's often like…" Asa waved over to the two sleeping bodies. "Like this, for a lack of better words. It's not all that common, but it's also not all that uncommon to see her like this."

Mei raised a fine eyebrow. "You don't mind a stranger randomly falling asleep in the middle of your house, not to mention that he probably plowed through over half of the amount of food you had in total?"

Their host gestured for them to take a seat. They complied just as she herself went to sit down, the odd synchronicity of the action nettling Kisame a bit.

"Yesterday, Hoshiko purged all her earnings from her last mission and bought an unholy amount of ingredients," explained gently Asa, mindful to not wake the two sleeping shinobi up. "She asked me that if I had the time, to prepare as many dishes as I possibly can for the next day." Her eyes briefly flickered to Hoshiko, who started to snore lightly. "She very rarely shares her food. Any reason why she decided to go so out of character?"

"Well, it was…"

"It's our big guy here's birthday," cut in Mei. "Probably decided he really needed some other human contacts beside our squad and that one kid from the training field. And it looked like he was getting a bit lonely…" She made a grand flourish with her arms, nearly smacking a hand in Kisame's face. "So here we are. Hope we don't bother you too much."

The woman laughed softly, eyes closing for a moment. "Quite on the contrary, actually. Hoshiko only has a few friends left, all whom I never met, so it's nice to meet her students." She let out a soft sigh and propped her head up on her hands. "She often mentions you three. She seemed more light-hearted. Happier. And for that, I thank you."

What followed next was a bout of awkward silence, both squad members not knowing how to properly reply to her appreciation. Fortunately, Asa had already something else to say, saving them from having to live through another tense silence.

"And concerning your previous question, no, I do not mind at all." Asa cracked a small smile at that and gazed at the towers of plates that had found themselves on the table. "If my sister and your teammate hadn't managed to finish all of this, the food would have perished in the matter of a few days. And while on the matter of food, don't you two have a few manju ready to eat? They'll get cold if you don't hurry."

After sharing a glance conveying an untold agreement, they both began to dig at the same time.

Slower and with much more grace than Mangetsu and Hoshiko-sensei had, of course. They didn't have the insane metabolism those two had.

* * *

With the small lunch fiasco over, the rest of Squad Four left Kisame to his own devices. Something along the lines of wanting to properly organize a surprise for him for the end of the day.

Asa told them they could pay her a visit any time they wanted to, although she said she would be busy for the rest of the day with washing all the dishes they went through.

That meant he still probably had a few hours to himself, and nothing much to do.

(The option of helping out Asa was promptly shot down when she vehemently refused his help.)

Training was still a no-go. Kisame could still feel the strain that had been put on his body from yesterday, and today was supposed to be a stress-free day.

Maybe now would be a good time to catch back some slack at home. Maybe take a nap. Or maybe even just sleep the day away?

…But then Mangetsu would probably break into his house again, this time accompanied by sensei. If it had been bad the first time, the next would doubtlessly be worse, especially with Hoshiko in the group.

And he still needed to do something about his broken door and the floorboards that had been splattered with what could barely be called a cake.

(At least Mangetsu tried.)

* * *

 _Ditto_

" _Aha! We're finally back, Chip!"_ exclaimed Ditto in an enthusiastic whisper. _"This is where I currently live. It's kinda shoddy compared to many other towns and cities back home, but beggars can't be choosers. And plus, I have a friend who lives here."_

They had crossed the village gate a few moments ago, with human-Ditto showing Chip giddily to the guards. They didn't mind the action too much, only sending one or two sideway glances. Or more; it was always complicated with ninja. They were clear to go after that, of course, or else he wouldn't be walking in Kiri at the moment.

 _(Ah yes, one of my many talents, impersonation. —_ _ **I don't think two or three counts as 'many'. —**_ _Hey! And at least I'm good at them!)_

Chip had ultimately agreed to the whole 'staying in a glass bowl for an undetermined amount of time' in order to stick with Ditto. With the former now residing in a custom-made see-through bowl, Ditto quickly rounded a corner and into a familiar street that he knew no one would pass by at this time of the day.

The fishbowl was nothing out of the ordinary; a spherical container with a flat bottom for convenient placing. The only thing differentiating it from others was a sturdy ring around the rim of the bowl that was coated with a soft material. It made lugging it around easier, especially in a quadruped form, when one of the only ways of grasping objects was to use the jaw.

Chip said nothing, content with gazing in awe at the buildings surrounding them, no matter how ragged they were.

After sending a small pulse to confirm they were alone, Ditto set down the fishbowl and the now-repaired ceramic bowl on the ground and melted back into his much more comfortable canine body.

He went to grab—bite—the ring around the rim, but stopped short when he realized a small problem.

Dog-Ditto was unable to carry two objects in his mouth at the same time. Not with how Big Blue's bowl had been neatly wrapped to fit the form of the ceramic.

The obvious answer would be to simply unwrap it and rearrange the cloth in a basket-like fashion to allow it to hang from his mouth, but he really didn't want to undo the precise folds.

But it was either that or he'd have to push one of the items with his head.

 _(I mean, I could always use a human body… —_ _ **But then people could get suspicious about some random civilian adult sneaking around Kisame's house. —**_ _Point taken, I guess.)_

With a resigned sigh, dog-Ditto started unwrapping the piece of cloth on the pottery with his paws.

* * *

Having to unwrap without the use of opposable thumbs took way longer than he thought it would. Ditto had expected it, but it sure didn't make it any less annoying to deal with.

It was around mid-evening when Ditto arrived at Big Blue's house _(_ _ **our**_ _home)_ , judging from how the sun had nearly set. With no small amount of force, he forced open his usual point of entry, the northern window, and carefully made his way inside. No way was he going to break anything again and go through all the trouble of robbing another man's money to pay for the repairs.

There wasn't anything noticeable that had changed from the house, though dog-Ditto did smell a faint trace of burnt originating from the kitchen.

Strange. Ditto didn't recall Big Blue cooking anything after his graduation. Maybe just whip up something simple, but he barely ever used the stove or oven.

" _I'm going to see something,"_ he whispered to Chip after depositing the fishbowl near the couch. _"Don't worry, I'm just going to take a look around the house. Shouldn't take too long."_

Chip didn't even register his words, still staring at everything in amazement. Must be his first encounter with human civilization. Ditto didn't remember much about his first encounter with human civilization, but he probably had a similar reaction to Chip's.

 _(That's because my memory focuses more of the appearance and personality of a single entity. I thought you knew? —_ _ **Oh right, that's a thing. Must have slipped out of my mind or something.**_ _)_

Dog-Ditto crinkled his snout in distaste as the full brunt of the smell hit him. Whoever came over to Big Blue's house and decided to cook probably had no idea on what they were doing.

Probably not going to take a step closer to the kitchen, then. Maybe later, when he got tired of being a dog.

 _(Probably not, since I just_ _ **love**_ _this body for some reason. Makes me feel all fuzzy and happy inside.)_

Skimming over other possible options, Ditto opted to go find Big Blue. It wasn't like it was a particularly bad idea, unless he discovered that his most precious bowl had disappeared and pinned the blame on Ditto, or he was still mad over the small spat they had.

What could go wrong?

* * *

A lot could go wrong, apparently. It could have been worse, though, and Ditto was grateful for that.

Ditto found himself back in his jelly-like state and having the urge of simply meld with the floor. Chip was in no better condition, cowering and sticking himself to the side of the bowl farthest from Big Blue the best he could, but that maybe was more due to his instinctual fear of anything resembling a Sharpedo.

His roommate dragged a hand across his face before setting them atop his eyes, an expression of 'I'm so done here' slowly making its way to the surface. He let himself sag in the couch, staring pointedly through his fingers at Ditto.

"So let me get this straight." Big Blue took in a deep breath. Then another. And another. It seemed to follow a certain rhythm, Ditto noted. Maybe it was to calm himself? "So you try to release some stress by drawing,"—drawing maps, Ditto specified to himself—"and realized there weren't any pens home. Then, you threw a fit because of it and you managed to break one of my bowls."

Big Blue removed his hands from his face, sending a tired and slightly irritated look to the two Pokémon. Ditto simply waited for him to continue while Chip flinched under his gaze.

"Having a slightly guilty conscience, you thus decided to set out for a way to repair it and left a vague note at the table. It was then that you found a fish and decided to drag it along for the ride, and the rest of your small trip went as you planned it and you managed to find someone to help you repair my bowl." His eyes lingered on Chip when he paused. "And you somehow also managed to get him a glass bowl for the fish so that you could bring it home."

"That's pretty much what happened. Mostly. Maybe. I may have left some parts out. Maybe you could take a look at the bowl?" suggested Ditto, trying to steer away the conversation. "You still didn't touch it."

Giving Chip one last look, Big Blue pushed himself up and walked sluggishly to the only table in the room, where the wrapped pottery had been placed. They weren't finished talking, that was for sure, but at least Ditto could get a few seconds to a few minutes more to dig up anything valid to say. If everything else failed, make excuses, no matter how farfetched they might be.

 _(But what if those also fail? —_ _ **Now shouldn't you know? —**_ _Run away? —_ _ **There you go, bud.**_ _)_

After whispering a few soothing words and assuring to Chip that _no_ , the tall shark-human wasn't going to eat him, he slid by Big Blue's side. When he realized that he wouldn't be able to see anything from his current height, Ditto decided to scale the table to get a better view from the top.

His companion didn't seem to mind, focusing more on trying to detangle the mess Ditto made when reshaping the wrapping. Maybe next time, he should ask someone else to do it.

Just as Ditto was about to ask his struggling friend if he needed some help, Big Blue managed to open the wrapping, revealing the not-broken-anymore ceramic piece in all its shiny, ornamented golden glory.

There was a sharp intake of a breath, and Ditto anxiously awaited for Big Blue's verdict.

When none came, Ditto took the initiative and hesitantly asked, "So… 'bout that bowl you're kinda creepily caressing… What do you think about it?"

The finger that was tracing the golden lines stilled, but Big Blue didn't bother to turn his head to face him.

"It's… beautiful," he murmured. He restarted tracing the streaks slowly, without taking his eyes off the ceramic. "Where did you even—?"

Anything he was about to say was cut short as the door _slammed_ open, the hinges creaking painfully against—whoa, the door just completely flew off. Another busted door for Big Blue, it seemed.

Ditto scrambled to take any shape, not wanting to be busted this early in his stay in the village.

He had half a mind to simply transform into a lamp, but ended up shifting into a dog at the last second. A modern lamp finding itself on a table that didn't have a modern lamp before might bring up more questions than a dog that had already been spotted before on top of that same table.

 _(It really is a miracle I didn't end up as a half-lamp half-dog fusion or something. —_ _ **It would have been hilarious.**_ _— But also extremely inconvenient.)_

" _COMPANY'S HERE!_ " hollered a voice from outside, " _WE'RE HERE TO_ — wait, that dog's one of yours?" A tall figure stepped into the room with two smaller ones following behind.

"Wait a minute… Isn't that Kisa-san's dog?" As it turned out, the three people were the rest of Big Blue's team. Not that entirely surprising, if Ditto thought about it. "So you finally found it?"

As dog-Ditto prepared to leap away—because honestly, that was what he ever did when things started to turn to shit—a pair of strong arms hefted him from his waist, thus throwing that plan out the window.

He resisted the childish urge to wriggle in the arms, opting to instead sneak a glance at Chip.

The Remoraid was visibly distressed at the sight and looked to be on the verge of fainting. There was nothing Ditto could do apart from sending him a reassuring smile. It didn't exactly do much, but there was a minimal shift in Chip's expression.

"In actuality, they came back to me on their own." The arms holding him up shifted a bit to get a better grip. "So in other words, it would be more like they found me instead of the other way."

Dog-Ditto turned his head up to look at Big Blue, but the only thing Ditto could discern from his face was something akin to mild irritation and confusion.

"We," announced Miss Star, gesturing to Mangetsu and Mei "have already everything prepared. All that's missing is you, birthday boy."

"We actually didn't have to prepare anything. At least, I don't think there was anything to prepare… and Hoshiko-sensei just disappeared to who knows where in the middle of our walk," threw in Mei, looking suspiciously at her teacher.

"Meet us outside the house when the moon comes out," said the aforementioned teacher, ignoring the previous statement. "That's all I've got so say, so… we're off!"

With that, Miss Star whisked off Mei and Mangetsu out of the house, and all that was left was the wooden door that once composed the main entrance, laying a few steps away from its frame.

"Is… is no one going to come back to repair the door?" Ditto heard Big Blue whisper to himself.

* * *

 _Kisame_

Having decided that the doors were a lost cause for now, Kisame adjusted his grip on Ditto so that he could carry them with only one arm. It was fairly easy, considering Ditto's dog form was that of a pup.

He reached out to take the fishbowl with his free hand. The ring that had been added around the rim made a good handle, and he wondered if Ditto had chosen it because of that.

Kisame stopped himself short, seeing that the fish was shaking like a leaf and had pressed itself flat against the outermost side, eyes wide and looking frantically around.

It had only relaxed slightly after hearing Ditto emit a few clicking sounds, and it let out a few high pitched gurgles in return. The fish then let itself drift to the middle of the glass bowl reluctantly, warily assessing Kisame.

Taking that as the consent to be picked up, Kisame hesitantly took the fishbowl by the ring-handle and made sure it wouldn't tip over when he was walking. Because with his luck with Ditto and Squad Four, small disasters were bound to happen daily.

He brought both of them outside and walked to the back of his house. There wasn't really a garden there, but there was a small stream of water close by.

Kisame deposited the fishbowl and Ditto down on the ground before sitting by the waterside.

Ditto only looked at him expectantly, but otherwise said nothing else and edged closer to the fish. If Kisame remembered well, he said he encountered it and they quickly bonded.

He had questions, tons of them, for Ditto, but Mei told him to take it easy for today.

It _was_ his birthday, after all.

* * *

Minutes and hours flew by, and the moon was now high up in the sky.

Incidentally, Kisame and the rest of the team—with the addition of a canine-shaped Ditto—stood on the rooftop of his house.

"Anyone mind telling me why we're all congregating on the roof of my house?"

Hoshiko-sensei gave no verbal response, choosing instead to sit down and pat the spot beside her as an invitation to join her.

They did so, not having many reasons not to (aside from her generally taking questionable choices), and followed her example to lean back to face the sky. Out of the corner of his eye, Kisame could see Ditto had chosen to settle down on a spot closer to the edge of the roof somewhere behind them.

And there—

There were innumerable tiny sparkling dots in the sky, flashing and flickering in the dark sky. Like scattered specks of snow spread over a black curtain. It really was a sight to behold, seeing a scene that could very well fit a children's tale.

It had been a long time since Kisame took the time to appreciate such a view.

He heard a slow breath being let out, and he craned his neck to see Hoshiko grinning from ear to ear. "So, whaddya think? Pretty, no?"

"It's…" _Amazing. Gorgeous. Fancy words._ He turned his head to admire the stars once more.

"At a loss of words, huh?" She huffed out a short laugh. "Yeah, was also like that for my first time. And talking from experience, it's always prettier with someone else." A pause. "But that's not really what I wanted to show you—well, not all of it."

Kisame made a noise in the back of his throat to show he was still listening.

"So here's the thing…" Hoshiko-sensei let out another laugh, this one sounding more sheepish.

That caught the attention of his two squad members—even Mangetsu, who had dozed off at some point—and both sat up to face their sensei.

"I kinda signed you three up for the Chunin Exams. Better prep up, they're up in a few months."

* * *

 **See, I was just minding my own business when somebody pushed me off this giant cliff. So that took a lot of time to climb back up, but then the top of the cliff fell off and I had to restart the whole ascent. (Our teacher gave us only a fifth of the time required to complete a pretty long project, so I hadn't had that much time to write. Not to mention all the exams that are going on.)**

 **This chapter is slightly longer, so I hope it'll make up for the wait.**

 **AND I SWEAR, THIS IS THE LAST (haha, lol no) FILLER CHAPPIE BEFORE THE PLOT PICKS UP THE PACE.**

 _Antex-The Legendary Zoroark_ : Aa, thank you for taking the time to leave your reviews! And I'll have to admit that characterization and everything that comes with it is kind of difficult for me, so I'm glad you enjoyed it.

 _Alex Ultra_ : It wasn't mentioned clearly in the manga (at least, as far as I remembered), so I just assumed. Though yours does make a lot more sense than mine. Thank you for your input!

 _RamenKnight_ : And thank _you_ for reading! And for the fourth wall shenanigans... I kind of have a small story arc revolving around it? And uh, SPOILERS. Feel free to PM me if you want any specifications on it, though.

 **Reviews and suggestions are always appreciated!**

 **P.-S.: Poll is still up! (Please vote, I'm getting really desperate on knowing your opinions...)**


	19. Transit

I do not own Naruto, nor do I own Pokémon.

* * *

Time flew by faster than he would have expected, minutes, hours, days and weeks trickling down like the sand of an hourglass.

The Chunin Exams were fast approaching, and Kisame couldn't say he wasn't excited at the prospect of testing his skills against other shinobi from the various villages.

Ditto, much like Big Blue, was _very_ much eager to accompany him to the exams. Not only had he heard that they would take place in a land far away, but also that he had been working on another small project of his and couldn't wait to demonstrate it to his partner.

(Thankfully, someone had repaired Kisame's doors and wiped his bedroom floor, as well as repairing his kitchen, making them look like no shinobi had ever invaded his house.)

* * *

" _Ah… y-you say you're going someplace far away…?"_

" _Oh, cheer up, you sap!"_ Blue—having taken the form of a young girl from his memories—walked towards the fish tank. He had upgraded Chip's residence a while ago, question of giving him more space to swim around. The fishbowl hadn't been discarded, just put aside for when Blue needed to transport him around. _"There are still a good few months before that. And plus, it's not like I'll be gone for long."_

Chip still hesitated about calling his newfound friend _Little_ Blue, since Chip was just around Blue's size, if not smaller.

" _Then what about…?"_ trailed off Chip. His stuttering had gradually decreased with time, now more comfortable with the people he was living with. That didn't mean they were gone completely, though.

" _Taking you with me?"_ Blue finished the sentence for him. _"You weren't exactly inconspicuous the last time we went into a human village, and that was when I provided you a hiding place. I'll go probably as a sword this time or something, and it's not like I could hide you in a scabbard without injuring you in some way."_

Chip watched as Blue twirled a lock of hair with his—her?—finger. Ditto hadn't specified for how long he would be gone, and by now, Chip didn't think he even knew.

" _Well, I could think about it."_

* * *

Mangetsu delicately tied a small water-filled bag at the end of the shoji, making sure it aligned with the small wooden spike Kisame was currently affixing to the wall.

He snorted.

Delicately? More like passive-aggressively pinning the thin elastic membrane containing warm tree sap to the end of the wooden frame. It wasn't like the owner of the house didn't deserve this. He practically had it coming, with all those 'surprises' of his. And it wasn't like Mangetsu couldn't spot the lecherous gaze their client was sending Mei during the mission.

Did it ever occur to anyone that someone grated on him or her so much that they wished that person could turn into water so they could aggressively drink it? Because that was how Mangetsu was currently feeling.

Of course, Squad Four still had a reputation to maintain, so Mangetsu couldn't get the blame pinned on them.

(Though it wasn't like the man was smart enough to even guess it was them.)

"I wonder," started Kisame, "how you always manage to persuade me to help you with these things."

"Maybe it's because I'm incredibly charismatic?" offered Mangetsu innocently.

"Yeah right," sounded Mei's voice from the hallway. "And you should lower your tones or I'll stop keeping watch for you and drag Kisame out of your mess."

Mangetsu resisted whining and went back to securing the small trap. If everything went well, the client would slide open the door in a quick movement, causing the bag to rush straight to the spike that would then puncture it, spilling its sticky content onto the floor.

Then it would be bye-bye to the snobby noble's pristine floor!

But because Mangetsu wasn't completely cruel, the sap he chose was, unfortunately or fortunately—depending on the perspective—easy to remove. It might still leave a faint stain, but that wouldn't be his problem anymore.

He whistled to himself, taking a moment to admire his simple but devious contraption. "Proceeding to the next step, peeps," he whispered, just loud enough so Mei could hear him through the paper screen. "Withdraw, sit back, relax, and enjoy the view."

Next time, they could maybe ask sensei for a quality check before every escort mission. For now, he'll resort to just relishing in the man's surprise and shock.

* * *

"Are you still mad?"

Kisame looked up from his kusarigama, momentarily stopping in sharpening his weapon. Ditto laid behind him, sprawled across the floor.

They had shaped themself to fit a dog's body, sans all the characteristics, making them a dog-shaped blue gel. Kisame had to admit that it was slightly unnerving to see a moving blue slime with only two dots and a line for their eyes and mouth.

"About what?" Kisame frowned. The incident with his first mission had already been resolved some time ago. So what was this about? "If it's about last time…"

Ditto shifted uncomfortably and snuck glances around, as if to make sure no one was listening on. "It's 'bout the bowl. You stopped using it after I had it repaired."

"Oh, that. No, I'm not angry," he answered, "just confused on how you managed to get it done. And I don't use it anymore mostly because I don't want to dirty it. It makes a great decoration, don't you think?" Kisame hesitantly resumed his task. At this state, the blades wouldn't even be able to cleanly cut a fish.

When it became apparent that Ditto wouldn't answer his question, Kisame turned around to ask them something else, but his partner was already gone.

He rolled the chains linking the two sickles in his hands.

Did something happen to them?

* * *

Mei came by the antique shop again. Lately, she hadn't had much time to visit there due to missions and training. She still managed to squeeze in bimonthly visits, or even weekly visits when she was lucky, to keep the man company and browse through his wares.

She had purchased from there around five times, if her memory served her correct.

Mei pushed the door open, hearing the familiar _ding_ of the doorbell.

Much to her surprise, someone else was already in the shop, idly chatting with Seiji, the owner of the building.

The man was hardly any taller than Hoshiko-sensei and just about everything about him was unremarkably nondescript. In his late twenties or early thirties. Short brown wavy hair and dark eyes. Navy blue yukata. Posture that screamed 'civilian'.

Truly, an incredibly nondescript man in appearance.

"…You really didn't need to," whispered Seiji. "But… thank you anyways."

"Don't mention it!" exclaimed the man, and Mei could almost feel his smile from her position. "And I did promise, no?"

"Still, you shouldn't have," replied the shopkeeper nonetheless. "Oh, and the girl behind you is Mei-san." He paused for a moment, and then continued, this time with a hint of hesitation in his voice, "You _are_ Mei-san, right…?"

She strolled to the counter to join the two men, a smile playing on her lips. "Yes Seiji, it's me, Terumi Mei." She turned to the stranger and offered a small bow. "Nice to meet you…?"

"Touma," the man supplied, returning the bow. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"We met shortly after your second visit here," Seiji explained to her. "We had a brief meeting then, and as he recently came back from his travels, he comes to visit here much more frequently."

"And I assume Terumi-san is the girl you always talked about?" asked Touma, raising a fine eyebrow.

Seiji smiled sheepishly, silently answering Touma's question.

"The one and only," she responded, propping herself on the counter.

As it turned out, Touma wasn't half bad and had a fair share of stories about his many travels into wilderness.

Many, _many_ stories.

* * *

Chip watched on curiously, concern slowly slipping into him. Blue had said that it wouldn't— _shouldn't_ —harm him in any way, but Chip still had his doubts.

However, he trusted Blue and that was all that counted for now.

" _I did it! See that? I did this!"_ crowed Blue—or would it be Green in this situation?—in delight, brandishing a severed slender green arm in front of his shelter. _"And even when separated from the main body…!"_

Chip was about to ask him to maybe consider not harming himself if he could help it, but was sidetracked by a small detail.

" _Ah, ah, but you're not b-bleeding? And it doesn't hurt?"_

Blue rolled his eyes at him, waving the arm around. _"Don't worry about it. And yeah, I still need to work on that blood thing. Wouldn't do good if a human stranger realized I wasn't made out of flesh, no?"_ He paused, observing the area that had been detached. _"But no, it's not painful. The nerves there don't really exist anymore since it turned to goop, and I don't exactly feel pain as you do."_

Chip opened his mouth to give a comment, but Blue resumed thinking aloud before he had the chance to.

" _Isn't this amazing? I mean, yeah, I've sometimes been able to do this subconsciously, but this is the first time it stayed in shape over a long period of time! This is… beyond amazing,"_ breathed out Blue, eyes widening. _"You know what? Next step- next step, I could try to split my consciousness too! So I could have control over the two parts. But…"_

He trailed off, lifting his eyes from the arm. _"Am I forever glad Treecko have a decent grip on objects…"_

Chip nodded along, not catching what Blue said afterwards. A yawn escaped from him, and looking outside, he would say that it was well past midnight.

And Blue, who had seemingly noticed his drowsiness, said, _"Oh, sorry for keeping you up so late. 'Night, I guess."_

" _G'night…"_

* * *

Following a chain of events that Kisame didn't remember all that clearly, Squad Four somehow found themselves struggling to keep a giant iron ball from rolling down the stairs and crushing them.

The fact that they were located in a narrow, enclosed hallway didn't exactly help.

"I thought you said this would be an easy mission!"

A simple delivery to an Iwa team that was supposed to meet them at the top of the tower, to be more precise. Why they chose this specific building in the middle of nowhere, Kisame had no idea.

"Oh, but it was," chirped Hoshiko, not batting an eye, "until you triggered an old trap that had been laid here during, I don't know, the Second Shinobi World War or something."

"It's not even—!"

"Instead of bickering like children, maybe we should focus more on the task at hand," hissed Kisame through clenched teeth. "Like finding a solution out of this mess."

That shut the two up, much to Kisame's relief. The weight of the iron ball was starting to put some serious strain on his arms and legs, and if they didn't hurry and find a way out, they might as well be done for.

Even Hoshiko-sensei looked to be having a bit of a hard time.

"I… I might actually have an idea," wheezed Mei, "but the guys will have to hold it by their own for a few seconds. And maybe sustain a few burns."

"Still better than getting crushed by a few tons of metal." And Kisame could approximately only hold it for another minute or two before he reached his limit.

The plan was relayed in hushed whispers with no objections from any member.

On the agreed signal, Mei and Hoshiko leapt away, leaving Kisame and Mangetsu to support the weight of the iron sphere.

Ending on a tiger seal, Mei sucked in a breath of air, and— " _Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique_!"

A continuous stream of fire headed straight for the metal obstacle and both male members of the team had to edge slightly to the side to avoid being roasted alive.

They allowed it to heat for a few moments to make sure their plan wouldn't spectacularly backfire on them just before completion.

"Now!" barked out Kisame, finally feeling the metal surface beginning to burn the skin of his palms.

" _Ice Release_ …" Seeing the ice starting to form around their sensei's fists, Mangetsu liquefied himself while Kisame had to clear out from the path as fast as he could to let the oversized ball of iron roll towards her. " _ **Ice-Breaking Sledgehammer**_!"

The fist collided with the globe, and for a moment, nothing happened.

All of a sudden, the metal ball shattered into shards, sending chunks of metal flying. One whizzed past his head, and Kisame had to thank his reflexes for his still intact head.

The whole team—minus the liquid Mangetsu—just stood there for a moment, savoring the fact that they were still mostly intact and not flattened by the product of someone's carelessness.

"Ah! I'm completely beat!" Mangetsu reformed himself and sat down on the steps of the stairs and stretched his arms. "Man, that really took a lot of me."

Kisame went to pick up his previously discarded sword—not Ditto, since they had holed themself up in a corner of his house—when he heard a snort from Mei's direction.

"And whose fault is that?"

"Hey! It's not like I knew this tower was booby-trapped all over! And it's not like I was the one who chose this place to deliver information to the other village."

"Whatever you say, pint-sized," Hoshiko piped in, "we still have a mission to complete. Now get up and get moving! Scrolls ain't going to deliver themselves!"

And Iwa should really reconsider on safer meeting points for missions and maybe warn the other party for possible dangers at the location. Having a team being crippled because of some oversight in the mission details wasn't exactly good for international relations.

* * *

Looking back at the situation, maybe she should have expected something like this to happen.

Mei looked mournfully to what had once been a training dummy, now ripped beyond recognition and its soaked pieces having been strewn about carelessly. Next time, she should maybe veer the boys away from it when they start going full taijutsu during spars. Kiri had only so many to spare, and Mei certainly wouldn't be using the clan funding to get a new one.

While Mei and Mangetsu had decided that moderation was the best choice and had stepped out before they could get any major injuries, Kisame and the angry Academy student—Zabuza, was it?—were still going at it.

Suddenly, the notion that Kisame often took a whole day to rest had a reason linked to it.

Further in the clearing, Mei could see the two figures clashing together relentlessly, any weapons that had once been used sometime before now discarded somewhere away.

And it didn't seem that they would be stopping anytime soon. Every time one lost the match, the other one would simply force them to continue if he didn't get up by himself. Zabuza lost most of them, but he was a vicious kid who still managed to corner Kisame a few times.

From Mei's current position, she could see the manic gleam in the younger boy's eyes despite him being on the losing side. Although she couldn't see Kisame's expression from her perspective, she had no doubt he was also enjoying the battles.

They were a near perfect match, if one discounted the small skill gap.

Now, if only Zabuza could make a face other than a vaguely constipated look or an almost frenzied state…

* * *

Hoshiko loved being a jounin-sensei. Being one gave you the chance to form deep bonds with your students and share meaningful memories with them.

Or something of the likes.

Kiri had never encouraged bonds or anything of the sort, so Hoshiko had decided to find some meaning in being a jounin-sensei besides raising kids to be absolute monsters on the battlefield. The answer she decided on was abhorrently mushy and complete crap, but at least it was an answer.

"S-sensei—!" squeaked one of her genin, getting quickly cornered by giant rats.

" _Hoshiko_ -sensei! Gee, how many times do I have to tell ya?" Hoshiko was perched high up in one of the nearby trees, far from the mess that was going on down on the ground. "And no, I'm not going to fish you out of there. Teammates exist for a reason." She flashed a beaming smile at Mangetsu and whistled sharply.

The unnaturally large rodents were soon after systematically burnt and cut down, and Mangetsu was spared from having to engage a five-to-one battle.

"Never knew you were so afraid of mice, Mangetsu," said Kisame, snickering into his palm. Kami forbid how long it took for that kid to open up to the team.

"You don't understand, Kisa-san! _Rats_! Not mice! They were _huge_! And all disgustingly furry! Did you even see those eyes?"

"You're just afraid of mice, Mangetsu. Just admit it," cooed Kisame, nudging with his foot the decapitated head of one of the rats towards Mangetsu.

Mangetsu took a step back warily.

Kisame picked up the still bleeding head by the ear and took a long stride forward, easily closing the space in between the two boys. In return, Mangetsu took another step back, and soon enough, it escalated into a fast-walking race between the two.

Beside them, Mei simply sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Just don't forget to wash your hands when you come back!" called out Hoshiko from above. "We wouldn't want to get sick because of mice germs!"

There was a shriek in the distance, promptly followed by snickers that soon devolved into full-blown cackling.

Oh, how she _adored_ her team.

* * *

 _Ditto_

Human-Ditto swished a small bottle around, noting that the liquid inside stayed as blue as ever.

 _(Am I ever glad for humans having nimble fingers and opposable thumbs. —_ _ **A few human-like Pokémon also have those characteristics.**_ _—_ Nimble _and_ dexterous _fingers capable of easy prehensility and manipulation of small objects. Arceus, you sure are hard to live with.)_

He frowned. Ditto was able to keep a severed part of him transformed for a few dozen of minutes at most before it reverted to a gelatinous state, yet it would usually refuse to take a transformation along with the main body after.

The only exceptions were if the target transformation naturally had a split body, such as Doublade and Magneton, who basically were just two or three Pokémon sharing a same mind. A collective consciousness. Ditto was able to replicate that to some extent, as long as the bodies had some physical contact between them.

The problem came with the separation of said bodies. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. Sometimes it only preserved a chunk instead of the full form, sometimes it simply failed and dripped back to the ground.

And then there was also the fusion of different transformations to work on. And a complete map of Kirigakure. And coming up with proper nicknames for the rest of Big Blue's team.

Not to mention that Big Blue would be leaving the village in a matter of weeks.

 _Arrrrgh!_ So little time to do so many things!

Human-Ditto closed his eyes and took slow, deep breaths. He would just have to rearrange his priorities then. Only work on what was important, and leave the rest for after.

Big Blue had expanded arsenal concerning weaponry, but he still leaned more towards swords. As a sword, Ditto could only warn him of incoming danger, but not pinpoint nor tell him from where it came from.

Oh well.

He released a breath, looking at the container in his hands.

Guess that would be what he would work on for the next few weeks, then.

* * *

Only a few days left before departure.

There wasn't really anything left to prepare, but another test run couldn't hurt.

 _(Besides, I should probably get some fresh air. Staying cooped up inside a closet for too long isn't all that healthy, so I hear. And by fresh, I mean going to the kitchen and going to see Chip.)_

Grabbing the necklace he had attached a small vial on, Ditto headed to see Chip. Ditto was pretty certain it would work without a hitch, but one could never be too sure.

Big Blue was away for training today. That gave Ditto around two hours before he came back.

" _Yo! Chip!"_ The Remoraid jolted at his name and turned to face Ditto. _"I have a small favor to ask you. You up for it?"_

" _A-ah, sure…"_ he trailed off uncertainly, swimming closer to Ditto. _"What is it?"_

" _I just wanted to see if my, er, prototype thingy worked. I'll just need you to maintain skin contact with this."_ Ditto showed him the necklace. The vial contained a tiny part of himself, roughly the size of an eye. _"It's not gonna hurt, if that's what you were wondering."_

Ditto scaled to the top of Chip's tank and dropped the necklace in the water, watching Chip swim up and snatch the floating bottle up in his jaw, if not a bit reluctantly.

And now came the decisive moment. It was a delicate process involving two domains Ditto had very little practice in.

After sliding back to the ground, Ditto transformed as quickly as he could, keeping a clear image in mind. As it had turned out, a swift transformation would often include fewer inaccuracies than a slow transformation.

Not a second later, he was left as sword not unlike a jian, the only notable differences being the single edged blade, the scarf-like tassel and the mass incrusted in the hilt. His eyesight was traded for a radar, and in spite of having gone through the same procedure a good few times, the sudden lack of visual perception wasn't any less jarring.

Sword-Ditto felt two eyes open, though he remained 'blind'. One last step.

He 'opened' his 'mouth', and—

 _{Erm. Hello? One two, one two, hear me yet?}_

He felt Chip startle on the other side. That was good! That meant that Ditto had succeeded. Maybe partially, maybe fully.

" _B-Blue…? Was that you? Could you speak… ah, a little clearer? I couldn't understand much."_ Ditto heard Chip respond.

Deciding to not waste any precious time, Ditto melted back to his usual body and clambered up the tank. He muttered out a quick "thank you" and hastily grabbed the vial before heading back to his makeshift workbench in the closet.

A few days should be enough to adjust and fine-tune the two eyes for a better reception.

And then Ditto would have to clean up the closet… Having the power to control time sure would be useful here.

 _(Though nothing good ever came to people who seek to control a legendary's powers. I guess I could always ask Big Blue if he could lend it to me permanently.)_

* * *

 _Kisame_

Kisame eyed the pendant that had been presented to him dubiously. Hanging from it was an orange glass eye with a slit pupil.

"So you want me to wear this during the whole exam and preferably not take it off at any moment. And maintain skin contact all along." His eyes trailed to an identical eye that was found in the center of the sword's hilt. "Really? Because this seems like the typical cursed weapons you would find in a fantasy story, and I really don't want to have anything to do with those things."

The only response he got from Ditto was a shrill sound and an agitated wave of their tassel that looked suspiciously like an arm.

"Alright, alright," he grumbled. "No need to get angry over nothing."

Kisame fastened the clasps of the pendant at the back of his neck, feeling the cool touch of the glass against his skin.

"Here's to hope this won't hex me and force me to haunt the next bearer of this glass eye," muttered Kisame, mostly to himself.

 _{Oh, don't you worry! There's no nasty side effects to this thing,}_ a familiar voice echoed in his head. _{Well, not any I know of. Only had, what, two or three days to test this, so you know, something bad_ might _happen. Slim chance, though, so no need to panic and run around like a headless chicken.}_

He jolted slightly before releasing a longsuffering sigh. Because of course, his amorphous shapeshifting partner who may very well come from another realm and who sometimes shines in the sunlight developed a way to communicate telepathically with him while posing as his sword, whose timing perfectly coincided with the day of his going to the Exams.

 _{And this telepathic route only works one way, so you'll have to speak aloud if you want to tell me anything,}_ added Ditto as an afterthought.

That was… pretty okay, actually. Prevented any impromptu mind reading, accident or not. Even if there wasn't anything especially remarkable going on in his head, he still needed his privacy.

"Well, now that that's done, we best get going. Hoshiko-sensei's probably going to be mad if we arrive late."

Ditto hummed in agreement as Kisame strapped a kusarigama to his left side, just opposite to Ditto's scabbard. Having a mid-range weapon as a backup would never hurt.

* * *

"Perfect timing, runts! Our ride just came, and it'll be leaving soon, so get on it!"

"Is that a sailboat?"

"You bet'cha!"

"Hoshiko-sensei, are you sure it's safe…?"

"Bah, don't worry about that. Worst to come, I'll just freeze over part of the ocean and make a bridge to cross to the other side."

"Real reassuring, sensei."

" _Hoshiko_ -sensei, shrimp!"

* * *

"Kisame? Are you still awake?"

Kisame turned around to face Mei, who had sat up on her bunk. He covered up a yawn with his hand and rubbed the blear out of his eyes. Mangetsu had taken the top layer of the bunk bed while Mei took the lower one. Kisame, on the other hand, preferred the cot by the side, parallel to his teammates. Hoshiko-sensei had eclipsed herself, saying she was going to walk around the ship and that she would sleep in a separate cabin.

"I think so." Another yawn. "Probably not for long, though. What is it?"

"It's about your sword," she whispered, and Kisame felt his body tense minutely. He knew it had been a bit suspicious, but to bring it up at this time?

"…what about it?" He resisted the urge to let his gaze wander to where he had leaned Ditto on the wall.

"At first, I thought that maybe I was just hallucination because of blood loss," started Mei, "but now…" She left her sentence hanging unfinished, and Kisame unconsciously edged forward to listen better, as she lowered her voice towards the end.

"The only thing I can think of is how poor your taste in aesthetics is."

Kisame recoiled a little at that. Out of all things she could have addressed, she decided on that? And it wasn't like he was the one who chose the colour scheme for the sword! If anything, it would be Ditto who would be at fault. But even then, what if they were colourblind? What then? Who would the blame fall on?

"But…" Kisame faltered. But what? The sword was actually sentient and not actually a sword and could change form at any given moment and that he had no control over their fashion style? Fat chance that could work out.

"No buts!" she exclaimed in a whisper, hopping down from the bed and landing softly in front of Kisame. "Look at that tassel! Yellow and purple. Really? What's more's that it doesn't even remotely look like a tassel!"

Kisame sat up and went to stop Mei when she reached out to grab his sword, but Ditto held him up.

 _{Nah, it's alright. I was planning to reveal myself later on anyways. They seem trustworthy enough. And a sneak peek now wouldn't hurt, no? I do love confusing people.}_

He flinched, still not accustomed to having their voice finding itself in his head. "Gave me a scare there, Ditto," he whispered, making sure Mei wouldn't hear him.

 _{You should get used to this, then. Wouldn't want you to get distracted when it matters, like in a battle or something.}_

With Ditto's permission, Kisame let Mei grab the hilt and watched her pull out the blade in fascination. Despite with the low lighting, the orange glass eye still shone ominously, giving it a somewhat mystifying air.

Not even having completely unsheathed the sword, Mei stiffened. Her eyes trailed along the blade before resting on the eye in the hilt. "Hey, Kisame. You said you found it outside your house, right?"

"Uh, yeah…?" he replied, lightly put off by her complete change of attitude. "But when I think about it, it would have been more that they found me instead." 'As a dog' went unsaid. And just a 'sneak peek', as Ditto put it. Wonder how that would go for both of them.

Mei then turned to face Kisame and gaped at him. Underneath her apparent shock, Kisame could see a curious gleam in her eyes, and he wasn't sure he was ready to deal with that in the middle of the night. Maybe in the morning, when he wasn't this tired?

"Is this… is this one of the cursed swords? Or was it one of the legendary? The book didn't describe their appearance in details… But no, not cursed. The cursed ones were definitely shorter and didn't possess a hilt," Mei mumbled to him, although Kisame felt it was mostly to herself.

Before Kisame could ask any clarifications, Mei already moved on to explain herself. "I've read that there was a legendary sword, but the location of it was lost. It rivaled the cursed blades that cut through anything and everything. I'm not sure about this detail, but I've also heard that they were extremely picky with their owners."

Feeling a spark of recognition, Kisame attempted to input his own insight on the subject. "So they're a bit like Samehada? Sentient and exceptionally careful with who they pick as their wielder?"

She nodded uncertainly. "But from what I've read, those were created way before Samehada was, and Samehada's swordsmith had inspired from them to create it."

"Kami, you guys are really loud."

Both of them startled—with Mei very nearly dropping Ditto and Kisame almost tripping over himself—at Mangetsu's voice and looked up to the offender. The latter simply groaned and rolled under the sheets.

"It's barely past midnight," he grumbled irritably. "And unlike popular belief, I do like my sleep."

"Maybe we should wait until tomorrow morning for this, then," sighed Mei, sharing a glance with Kisame. "And to say I was so pumped up…"

"Tomorrow morning it'll be," confirmed Kisame, a third yawn bubbling up. Sleep sounded perfect right now.

 _{Yeah, you should go to sleep. Exhaustion isn't exactly good for humans, so I hear.}_

* * *

He woke up to the smell of burning leaves and the sight of a frantic Mangetsu.

"He managed to burn tea, along with its kettle," explained Mei, extinguishing the flaming teakettle. "Might've burnt down the room too, if he didn't fall on me by accident while freaking out."

He squinted at the kettle and directed an incredulous look at Mangetsu. "Why would you even use a stove to boil the tea? Are you crazy?" And when did they even get a stove in the cabin? "Didn't anyone ever tell you that?"

Hoshiko-sensei took that moment to step into the cabin and peered around curiously. "Is that oolong tea I smell? And big guy's right, half-pint. If you want some lessons on how to make tea properly, you're more than welcome to visit my cabin. The tea's probably too bitter to drink now."

With that, she stepped back out, closed the door and walked away.

"She does like to find the best moment to walk into conversations, doesn't she?" asked Kisame to no one in particular.

"Anyways," declared Mei, "we have a few things to discuss. After you all help me clean up this mess, of course."

* * *

"Moving on to the more important things, namely Kisame's sword and the Chunin Exams," announced Mei, sitting on her bunk.

"What about Kisa-san's sword?"

 _{You know, if Mangetsu keeps this volume, the rest of the passengers and crew of the ship will probably hear whatever you guys are going to discuss. What a lovely day that would make, having to explain how a shapeshifting interdimensional traveler ended up as a sword with you.}_

Kisame silently agreed with Ditto and decided to voice it out. "We should probably keep our voices low for this conversation unless we want others to get suspicious."

"Right." She lowered her voice in such way that Mangetsu and Kisame had to move closer to hear her clearly. "Last might, Kisame and I talked about his weird sword—"

"They're not that weird, Mei."

"—but we had to cut it short because it was getting late. That's why we're gonna resume it now, this time with Mangetsu as an add-on." She scooted further back on the thin mattress and invited the two boys to get a seat on her bed. "Oh, and Kisame? Could you also take your sword with you?"

Once seated and sword in scabbard in hand, Kisame partly unsheathed Ditto, revealing a slight rust-colored blade. Had it always been this colour? "We were discussing about whether this could be a cursed or legendary weapon," clarified Kisame. "And decided on whatever they were, they were at least sentient and very old."

"Then wouldn't that make your sword a tsukumogami or something?" piped in Mangetsu. "Alive, creepy, old as balls?"

 _{I'll say that I'm not_ that _old!}_

"But here's the thing: it's specifically a _sword_. A sword that specifically picked Kisame as its master, out of everyone," argued Mei.

"That's not really what…"

"And a tsukumogami would have had to serve a same master for a hundred year," she continued on, "which, if true, would have made Kisame probably a direct descendent of the previous owner for the tsukumogami to prefer him over others. That theory wouldn't quite stand on its own, since if that was the case, the sword wouldn't be unknown to the village.

"Another way it could have turned into a tsukumogami would be that an evil spirit took possession of the broken object—a sword, in this case. Last time I saw Kisame's sword, it was still perfectly intact. And still is, from the looks of it."

"Wow," breathed out Mangetsu, "so you're a nerd for old stuff _and_ old legends. Who would have thought?"

"Now back to my own theory, since the tsukumogami doesn't stand that well on its own," went on Mei, ignoring the previous comment. "What _can_ your sword exactly do, Kisame? Hoshiko-sensei told us that it might have been chakra sensitive, but you never validated that claim."

"Well…" hesitated Kisame. To what extent should he tell them?

 _{I can pinpoint chakra sources, but it would be best if you left the whole transforming jig out of the loop,}_ responded Ditto, as if sensing his uneasiness. _{Actually, you could just tell them anything not involving other worlds and transforming. Planning to leave those for after.}_

"They can sense chakra, if that's what you were asking," affirmed Kisame. "They can also produce a shrill sound, and while I've never tried it myself, but I do think that they also have a charged attack in their arsenal." At least, that was how Kisame interpreted it when Ditto wrote that they could produce a 'glowy arc slash thing'.

"So you refer to the sword as 'they'," remarked Mangetsu curiously, "and not 'it'. Any reason for that?"

 _{Oh wow, I never really thought he would be the one who would point it out.}_

"It's because your sword is sentient and you two have mutual respect for each other, isn't it?" whispered Mei excitedly.

"Sentient and able to communicate, yes," confirmed Kisame once again with a sigh. Somehow, he had the feeling that Mei was about to fire a barrage of questions at him.

"So I was right! It _is_ sentient!" crowed Mei, still mindful to keep her tone low. "But you said that it could communicate? How so? Is it related to the eye on the hilt? And how about the oddly-shaped tassel? Does it do anything? Is it—?"

Mei's deluge of questions was suddenly stopped as Ditto's arm-tassel waved in front of her face.

 _{Tell her to keep at one at a time. I'm not exactly sure if you could keep up with her if she keeps it up at this,}_ interjected Ditto, their tone playful.

"They… ask you to stick to one question at a time for the sake of simplicity." And if Kisame was right, Mei would then ask about how they were able to talk to each other.

Looking to meet her eyes, Kisame was positive that her eyes were practically shining, unless it was the light playing a trick. Which would be unlikely, given the low lighting offered in the cabin. Or just anywhere on the boat, really.

He saw her eyes lock on the pendant he was wearing. "Oh. _Oh_. Is that how you two communicate? Because…"

Thus how Kisame spent the rest of the trip answering to Mei's questions and Mangetsu's occasional curiosity and finding out that _yes_ , Ditto was able to slap people with their arm-tassel.

* * *

 **The thing was that this heard of flying deer came to rest on our rooftop, and unfortunately chewed our electric cable. So we had to wait for the electrician to come by and shoo the deer away and repair our cable before I could continue writing. (Family business.)**

 **Do I see plot? I think I can see plot starting to emerge. I hope. Maybe it's just my eyes playing tricks on me. But Chunin Exams are coming up in the next chapter, so that has to be something, right? (More opportunities to somehow brew up some disasters, that's what it is.)**

 _RamenKnight_ : Eeyup! Kintsugi is quite the art, no? And it's my pleasure to supply another chapter! (Poor Kisame, being confused in all this mess.)

 **Happy New Year, folks! Here's to hope 2017 will be better than 2016...**

 **Reviews and suggestions are always appreciated!**

 **P.-S.: ...Anyone still reading this? Because it sure would be nice if more people participated on the poll on my profile. Your opinions count, peeps.**


	20. Pins

I do not own Naruto, nor do I own Pokémon.

* * *

 _Mei_

They arrived on land after around a week or so on the boat. And was Mei forever glad that none of Squad Four members had sea sickness.

That would have been messy and embarrassing, though she would admit it would also have been slightly amusing seeing Mangetsu having to spend his time.

A month was spent trekking across the Land of Fire and Waterfall to reach the Land of Earth. They had to make a few pit stops here and there; despite being shinobi, they were still but humans. Sometimes they hitched a hike on a few passing caravan, temporarily ensuring the passengers' safety in return. Sometimes they stopped at small local villages to replenish supplies, sometimes they would just pass by them.

Time might have been on their side, but it wouldn't hurt to hurry up, as Hoshiko-sensei said.

And so, they arrived soon after at Iwagakure.

* * *

"Man, I really thought Iwagakure would be more colourful or something," declared Mangetsu exaggeratedly, squinting at the tall stone buildings. In Mei's opinion, they looked a lot more like dirt or clay buildings, but if the locals said so, then she'd just go with it. No use arguing with mules. "I'm mostly just seeing brown everywhere. With maybe a bit of blue on the sides."

"Seeing that we're currently strolling in the center of their village, you probably shouldn't insult it," mused Mei. "We might make a bad first impression."

Thankfully, there weren't all that many people out yet. It was still early morning, so there were very little civilians out and just a few shinobi flitting here and there.

"Dearest tiny minions of mine," chirped Hoshiko-sensei, dumping a scroll in Kisame's hands. "I need to go where the other jounin are going. See you at where you three are supposed to go!"

Their sensei who should have told them instructions but decided not to then flickered away, leaving three practically clueless genin in the middle of a foreign hidden village to find wherever they where needed to go.

Neato.

"What's even in the scroll?" inquired Mei. If she was right, it should be the location of the examination building. If not, it would probably be a useless fact about something. It could also be a storage scroll containing another storage scroll, which in turn contained yet another storage scroll, and that storage scroll containing a blank scroll. Hoshiko-sensei seemed to be the type of person who would do that.

Kisame unrolled the scrolled, revealing an intricate inked pattern on the paper. "Storage scroll," he replied. "Should I unseal it?"

Mei clamped down a hand on Mangetsu's mouth before he could spout anything they would regret later and looked around. They weren't alone, that was for sure. Better not risk it, then. "We should leave it for later, or we could find a secluded place. We could potentially provoke a shinobi if we unsealed it in the middle of the village, and we definitely don't want that."

"Then should we—?" Kisame cut himself, sharply turning his head upwards.

Mei and Mangetsu followed his line of sight, gazing up a building. A figure landed atop of it, shadowed by the sun behind them.

"Eh? Noticed me already?" they called out. "I only just landed here! Maybe you have a sensor in your team?"

Mei carefully didn't look at Kisame's wonderful sword. No need to hint them to anything. She did, however, drop her hand from Mangetsu's mouth when it became apparent that he wouldn't try to insult anyone (yet).

The stranger jumped down, landing in front of them, and they automatically assumed a defensive formation. Kisame's hand hovered over the hilt of his sword, Mei's reached for her kunai pouch and Mangetsu readied himself for a jutsu.

The person—a male in his teenage years, as it turned out—raised his hands in what Mei assumed was a placating gesture. "Whoa there, pals! I'm not here for a fight! Sensei would skin me if I did that in the market!"

Mei stepped forward first, relaxing her posture, but still wary. "Why did you approach us? Information? Because if so, then we have nothing for you."

"Gee, you're a really cautious bunch, ain'tcha? It's just an offer of goodwill here," said the person, taking a step forward towards Mei. She felt the boys tense behind her, and she idly noted that the person stood almost a full head taller than she did and wore an Iwa hitai-ate. "But I must say, I never expected genin this young from Kirigakure to come to our Chunin Exams."

"Get to the point already." _And try to not drag it out._ She was still tired from walking all night long, and wanted to quickly find a place to rest and be done with it.

"Man, and here I thought what they said about Kirigakure's shinobi's attitude were just rumours," muttered the Iwa shinobi. "Anyways, you three looked kinda lost, so I thought I could show you around or just show you where the Exams are happening and whatnot." He shrugged. "Common courtesy, you know? Welcome to Iwa, by the way."

"Common courtesy is introducing yourself first, I think, not jumping someone," retorted Mangetsu from behind.

"Is that so? Shiroitsuchi at your service," he crooned, giving a small bow to them. Maybe he had good intentions, but all Mei was getting were creepy vibes from him. Big time. "And I do believe it would be common courtesy to introduce yourselves after someone else did."

"Unfortunately for you," answered Mei before anyone else could, "we don't go by common courtesy."

"Cheeky brats."

* * *

In the end, they managed to find somewhere not too costly to lodge, a room in a small inn not too far away from where Shiroitsuchi had said where the Exams would take place. The room provided two beds and a futon and was furnished simply. Not too shabby for the price of it.

That still left them a good few days before the actual Exams.

Money wouldn't be a problem, given the amount provided by Hoshiko-sensei. That itself covered lodging and food, so those wouldn't cause any problems either. They now knew where to go, from the courtesy of the creepy Iwa guy.

Her eyes strayed to Kisame's side, where the possibly legendary weapon and the storage scroll rested.

To ask or not ask? That was the question.

Mei bit her lower lip, unsure to address which matter first. She still had much to learn about the sword (she didn't even know its name!), but her curiosity was nagging her and she really wanted to find out what Hoshiko-sensei had sealed inside.

The decision was taken when Mangetsu decided to speak up.

"What's even in the scroll, Kisa-san? Maybe we could unseal now. The room is pretty secluded, no?"

"And they say that no one is on this floor apart from us and the surroundings are clear," added Kisame, the 'they' most probably referencing to his sword. "So we should be relatively safe for now."

Mei wondered, how many uses did the sword have? Was it only a weapon and a sensor? Or did it have any other uses? Kisame mentioned he could communicate with it, and it could respond back via something akin to telepathy. The sword could possibly make a friend or a trustworthy confidant of some sort. Always there for you and only responded the bearer of the pendant, not to mention undoubtedly loyal to its wielder (or so she read in most legends). Kisame… well, it sure did look like he needed someone like that in his life, especially before Squad Four came to be.

It was only then that she noticed that the boys were staring at her expectantly, waiting for her input.

"Go ahead," she told them, "knock yourselves out. It's not like I'm not also curious about it, you know?"

With no small amount of anticipation, Mei and Mangetsu watched as Kisame unwind the scroll and pumped chakra into the seal. There was a puff of smoke, and…

"Another storage scroll?" she guessed, peering through the dissipating smoke. Bummer. Not that she hadn't expected it, per se.

"Another storage scroll," confirmed Kisame, unwinding the scroll-that-came-out-from another-scroll.

* * *

"How many are we at now?"

"Twenty-one scrolls and one scrap of paper," answered Mei, not missing a beat. "It says 'Good luck and don't die'."

"Hoshiko-sensei has a really neat handwriting," remarked Kisame, looking over her shoulder and muttered something under his breath, sporting a faintly amused expression.

"She does," she agreed. One of the best she had seen, actually, though it still didn't make up for all the effort they took to unseal all those scrolls.

"But what now? The, um, 'secret' of the scroll has been unveiled and there's still _days_ before the Exams!" whined Mangetsu from the bed, picking up the stray scrolls and rolling them up again.

Taking a moment to consider, she looked at the jumble of paper the room had become.

"Four people coming up the stairs, possibly three genin and a jounin," informed Kisame, cocking his head towards his sword.

Mei nodded. That shouldn't pose any problems, but better safe than sorry. "We clean this up as quickly as possible, and we wait."

* * *

 _Kisame_

They never really figured out why Hoshiko-sensei decided to seal all those scrolls and the scrap of paper, aside from wanting to mess with them. Despite the uneventful days of waiting, time passed relatively fast and the day for the Exams came before he knew it.

Mei stepped through the crowd easily, weaving through the small gaps between the people, with Kisame and Mangetsu trailing closely behind.

And there it was, the building where the Chunin Exams would take place, in all its splendid grandeur. If anyone asked Kisame, he would say it looked somewhat like a giant deformed almond, with its colour and shape. Or a slim walnut.

 _{Uuuuurgh…}_ groaned Ditto at the back of his mind, _{when are you going to explain to me how storage scrolls work?}_

"Later, Ditto, later," whispered Kisame, walking into the building.

 _{That's what you've been saying for the past few days, Big Blue.}_

Deciding to ignore them for now, he followed his team to what appeared to be either a modest courtyard or a room that had had its roof and part of its walls stripped down. A single shinobi stood at the center of it, while most of the participating genin (or at least that was what he assumed) stayed at the sides.

Squad Four stood not too far away from one of the multiple exits, just in case something would be to go awry. A good few Kumo teams, maybe three or four Konoha teams, two Suna teams and too many Iwa teams to count. There were very few Kiri teams, all older than them, from what he could see.

"Is this everyone? Everyone is here, right?" called out the one standing in the center. At his voice, most of the chatter in the area subsided and the genin's attention centered on him. "I'll be your proctor for this first segment, alright? Your first task is fairly simple. We've hidden coloured pins across the mountains surrounding Iwa—enough for everyone—and you just have to find one for every single one of your teammates and return here.

"There are a few restrictions though; every member from a same team must have a same coloured pin and every single member of a team must acquire one to pass. Luckily for you, same coloured pins are grouped together. Also luckily for you, they emit a distinct odour and chakra signature. In fact, we do have a sample of them for every colour—only limit to one per team, though—that you could procure yourself just at the booth behind, though you'll be restricted to only finding that colour. Any questions?"

A kunoichi who stood beside him raised her hand, waving it around when the proctor didn't notice her right away.

"Yes?"

"Is there a time limit?" she asked, having to raise her voice to make sure her voice carried to the center of the room.

"Until tomorrow sundown. I think that's all, right?" He gestured to the small booth stationed not too far away from where they had entered from. "That's where you can get a sample of a pin. For the ones who don't want one, just stay put. I'll say when the test will officially start."

Mei walked closer and made a subtle glance to Ditto. "Should we…?"

 _{Don't bother. My range isn't all that good, and as long as it has chakra, I can track it if it comes within range.}_

Following Ditto's advice, Kisame shook his head. "Not worth it," he responded shortly, pulling Mangetsu closer to make sure he also heard.

"So we just wait now?" Mangetsu leant on the wall behind them and slumped to the ground. "Really hope the first stage starts soon. Always waiting really gets—!"

"Getting restless already?"

Kisame startled, alongside of his squad members, and restrained himself just before he could lash out instinctively.

 _{I kinda forgot to tell you that I can't exactly sense well in crowds? Aha, yeah, sorry.}_

"So mingling in crowded places muddles your sensing, huh?" remarked Shiroitsuchi, pressing a fist to his mouth to avoid laughing out loud. Technically, it was a pseudo-sword doing all the sensing, but he didn't need to know that. "But I'm here to drop off a small advice for ya."

A deadpan stare was all the Iwa shinobi got in return. There had also been a growl somewhere, but Kisame wasn't sure if he heard it right.

"Chillax! Just here to help one of the youngest ones here." He paused, looking around discreetly. "You're not the youngest ones here, that would be the trio of tree-huggers. But no way in hell I'm offering my service to them."

"Just get on with it," sighed Mei. "I'd prefer to not have to spend to whole day with you."

"Just tryin' ta strike up a friendly convo, man! Why can't you—? Oh right, Kirigakure. Anywho, try to keep calm and quiet for now. Patience is a virtue, you know? The proctors like to pick out favorites, and it'll be in your favor if you stay low this time," whispered Shiroitsuchi before dramatically merging back into the swarm of tiny people before them and disappearing from sight.

There was a moment of silence between the three genin and only then Kisame noticed how awfully loud the people around them were getting. Most were just chattering, some started yelling, a pair or two were getting into a fistfight, and a few were content with people-watching.

"Should we trust him?" muttered Mangetsu, turning his head up to the sky.

Mei pressed her lips together and crossed her arms. "Well, he has yet to let us down…"

"So we'll follow his advices until he shows signs of crossing us," finished Kisame, resting a hand on the hilt of the sword.

 _{Hm, I'm getting a feeling that today might turn out mighty interesting!}_

* * *

"Squad Four of Kirigakure?"

The proctor walked up to them, two other Iwa shinobi flanking his sides. Other teams had been escorted out of perimeter one by one, the room now down to around two third of the total participants.

"That'd be us, yes," confirmed Mei, looking up to the comers.

"These two will be escorting your team to where the first stage will begin." The proctor nodded to the two shinobi accompanying him. "Don't cause trouble for them, and you'll be fine."

The proctor left the two shinobi with them and went off to see another team.

"…Let's go," muttered one of them, turning around to shuffle to the nearest exit.

They followed the first shinobi to the edge of the village, while the other one trailed slightly behind them. The walk was spent in relative silence, save for Ditto's commentary on the people walking by and the amazing lack of wildlife.

 _{…to mention that the only life forms I've sensed aside from human were plants and these little things scurrying on the ground. Bugs, maybe? And the people here…}_

As they walked further on, the dirt roads gradually shifted to gravel, the pebbles and rocks silently crunching with every step. The slow chatter and the buzz of civilians going around dimmed as they went, quieting bit by bit until it ceased completely, until the howl of the wind was the only sound Kisame could hear.

They were lead to the foot of one of the various mountains from Iwagakure's mountain barrier, where they began their agonizingly slow ascent. It was even slower than civilian pace, though no one complained. Ditto even enjoyed it, though they regretted not having the sight to see. Kisame took the time to admire the view while he still could, because he had the feeling he wouldn't be getting much time for that when the first stage will start.

As Kisame noticed, the air became thinner as they scaled up the mountainside, with the temperature dropping by a bit and having to take more breaths than usual. Still, at the speed they were traveling, he had plenty time to adapt.

A small banner labelled with 'Station Nine' came into view after some time, where the shinobi accompanying them stopped. It was around mid-afternoon with the sun still in the sky, meaning they had around a day to finish the task.

"This is where we'll leave you," announced the one at the rear. "There'll be a signal flare for when the first stage officially starts. Don't bother searching before the signal is given, since you'll be immediately disqualified."

With that said, the two shinobi went to sit down on two stone slabs conveniently located on both side on the banner.

Not before long, a few lights flew up and exploded in mid-sky, bright enough to be seen even on the other side of the village.

"I think that's our cue to go, right?"

* * *

"Already a good few hours in and we've only found one pin," muttered Mei, fiddling with the round orange badge in her hands. She clutched it tightly, the small badge fitting snugly in the palm of her hand.

They walked along the ridges of the mountainside, mindful to not ever make any misstep, lest they wouldn't mind a painful tumble down the rocks. Wind was practically nonexistent thanks to the mountains warding off any current that blew by.

"I thought the proctor said this would be easy. I thought he said the pins would be gathered together. But _nooo_ , it's like finding a needle in a haystack! Except that the needles are three separate tiny badges and the haystack is a chain of mountains!" lamented Mangetsu, crying out into the open space.

 _{Someone is having fun finding the pins and scattering them around the mountains, if you wanted to know. Or a few someone. Still getting the hang of differentiating people, you know?}_ piped up Ditto with their tassel wrapped firmly around the sheath.

(Kisame had asked to mind the placement of their tassel ever since he nearly tripped on it during the search for the elusive pins.)

"You shouldn't shout that loud," reminded him Kisame, "since I suppose you don't exactly like getting ambushed during the middle of the night, no?"

That caused Mangetsu to quiet down, but before releasing a few grumbles.

"And someone seems to be displacing the pins for whatever fishy reason they have," he added as an afterthought. "Though—"

 _{Someone approaching at high speed from your six! And I have a feeling they're not here for idle chat.}_

"Something wrong?"

"Possible enemy at six o'clock."

Despite the warning, they continued searching for the pins. A small shift in the stance of the team members was the only indication of acknowledgement to the warning. More alert, hands at the ready and prepared to break out in a sprint at any moment.

 _{The guy stopped just behind the cracked boulder on your top right. He could attack at any moment, so be prepared.}_

Squad Four lapsed into silence at that point, but they were now twice as wary, carefully watching for any sign of possible ambush. Only the faint sound of the gravel shifting underneath their sandals and the rare cries of the very few birds soaring over their heads sounded through the mountains. There were also the distant sounds of battling that echoed infrequently, but with the lack of response from Ditto, Kisame imagined they were too far away to be of any threat.

It was then that Mangetsu spoke up. "Hey, the sun's starting to set, so should we—?"

There was a sudden a burst of movement, a spray of rocks, and Kisame found himself interlocked with someone else, sword drawn and the noise of steel clashing against steel.

 _{There's something underneath all you three!}_

"Something's below us!" shouted Kisame.

Barely a moment later, hands erupted from the ground and only missed him by the breath, Kisame having only just hied to the side at the last moment.

While the assailant had yet to make another move, Kisame allowed himself a quick glance around to assess the situation. And it wasn't like the attacker could make a move without Ditto catching it.

Mangetsu and Mei were relatively fine, with the latter sporting a slightly grazed leg. Opponents identical to the one standing before him. Most possibly clones.

Iwagakure hitai-ate. Rock clones, then.

Kisame's lips pressed into a fine line. The opponent probably had elemental advantage over them, with earth versus water.

 _{Er, I think the guy's preparing for something. Stay vigilant, I guess.}_

He let the tip of his mouth curve upwards in anticipation. If it was a fight their opponent was searching for, than how could he say no? Elemental disadvantage? Who cared! That only meant that he had to push himself a little bit further. Nothing Kisame couldn't do.

And who was he to refuse a good battle?

"Now which is the main body…?" he murmured. "And make sure you keep that tassel out of my legs way."

 _{No need to repeat it a second time, Big Blue.}_ They paused, the pupil of the eye gem in their hilt moving ever so slightly. _{The one in front of you is emitting the strongest chakra. That's the right word, right?}_

Without much further ado, Kisame rushed to meet the Iwa nin face-to-face and swung the hilt of his sword to his head, just in time for him to block the hit to his temple. The boy staggered, but was swift to jump back to avoid a second blow from Kisame's scabbard.

They stared at each other for a second, and Kisame faintly registered the sound of burning and crushing and sounds that would give the impression that something entirely different was happening if taken out of context in the background.

As if on an unspoken signal, both ran towards one and another, and suddenly pseudo-metal met metal, and leather and wood met steel.

So it seemed the Iwa nin wore steel arm guards. Nothing Kisame could do about it, but it wasn't like some measly arm guards could stop him.

(He technically _could_ just attempt to break them using brute force or just slice of the straps holding them on, but where would be the fun in that?)

In the Iwa nin's other hand was a tanto, slightly longer than the standard Kiri model.

Now…

Well, no time like the present.

"Cover your ears."

While Kisame's teammates instantly knew what he was talking about and guarded themselves accordingly, his opponent had no such luck.

" _Metal screech!_ "

And there it was again, the shrill piercing sound of two metal pieces dragging across each other. Or scratching a knife against a ceramic surface, only multiplied tenfold and amplified by the echo of the mountain.

The Iwa nin stumbled back, startled by the sudden screech. Kisame took that moment to flip his sword to the underside of the tanto's blade and slid his sword to the outside, flinging the weapon out of his hand, thus disarming the opponent.

A knee to the stomach and a shoulder to the chest, and the boy was down. And just to make sure, Kisame kicked his tanto away and pinned him to the ground.

"I'll say, this was… underwhelming," admitted Kisame. "I really expected more from this fight."

"That's because you have this cheat of a sword that can cause headaches at any given moment." Mangetsu walked towards him, kicking the remnant of a stone clone in the process. "Man, my ears are still ringing."

"You don't say," grumbled Mei. "Maybe we should get some earplugs, just in case for the next time you try something like this this close to us."

"You think you have it bad? Imagine dealing with this at not even a meter of distance and no means to cover your ears because both your hands are occupied." Kisame latched the scabbard back to its slot and tucked Ditto away. "At least they're fun to talk to and still pretty darn useful in and out of battle."

 _{Thanks!}_

Mangetsu stroked his chin with his hand. "I guess I can't argue with that…"

The boy pinned under Kisame groaned, cutting off Mangetsu, and all three of Squad Four suddenly recalled that he was still a thing.

"I almost forgot you existed. But what are we going to do with you now?" mused Kisame aloud.

"I think I saw a cliff not too far away. Maybe we could string him up there and wait for his teammates to find him," suggested Mangetsu mischievously. "Or we could just hang him somewhere else."

The Iwa nin visibly paled and started to struggle under Kisame's grip, to which he simply responded by applying more pressure. Before the struggling boy could reply with whatsoever, Mei cut in smoothly.

"Don't even think about it, Mangetsu." Mei crossed her arms, looking pointedly at the Hozuki. "We don't have any kind of rope on us, and I have no intentions on wasting ninja wire on this. Instead, why don't we try talking to him?"

The boy slackened slightly at her words, though it couldn't be said the same for Kisame's grip on him.

"That does sound reasonable," agreed Kisame easily. "But how about we just drag him with us to lure out his friends and beat the ever living hell out of them?"

Mei released a longsuffering sigh. "Kisame, _no_. Our task here is to collect pins, not to beat everyone to the ground." She turned to the Iwa nin. "So speak up before I sic those two on you, boy."

"B-but…" he stuttered, paling even further.

"What part of _'speak up'_ did you not understand, _boy?_ " drawled Mei, crouching down to look directly into the shaking genin's eyes. "As I said, _speak up, or else_."

It must have been truly terrifying to the Iwa nin, eyes wide and breaking out in cold sweat.

 _{…Hm? Heyo, Big Blue, I think this guy has a pin somewhere on him. Or a giant round combatant cockroach. It's round and it's emitting chakra.}_

Kisame nodded minutely, not that Ditto would be able to see it. "Mei? It seems that our fellow here has a pin on him."

"Is that so?" questioned Mei, not looking up from the Iwa nin. "Kisame, you can release him. Mangetsu, make sure he doesn't escape."

"You got it, Terumi-chan!"

Just as Kisame loosened his hold on the genin, he slipped away and scrambled to stand, massaging his arms. He stumbled backwards, only to be stopped by Mangetsu, who held him by the shoulder and pushed him towards Mei.

"E-eep!"

 _{I don't know about you, Big Blue, but it just looks like you guys are bullying a kid now. A kid slightly higher than you, which in its own is quite the accomplishment, but still.}_

"Let's just get this done quickly," muttered Mei before clearing her throat to address the Iwa genin. "You. Pin. _Now_."

The person in question instantly complied with her demand, nervously rummaging through one of his pouches strapped across his hip. He pulled out a light blue button and reluctantly handed it over to Mei, depositing it in her outstretched hand.

She retracted her hand and inspected the pin before clucking her tongue.

"Blue. No such luck, huh." She pocketed it in with the one they found earlier. "Anything else worth mentioning?"

"Actually, ye— I mean, no! There's nothing else!" The Iwa nin waved his arms frantically in front of him. "Nothing at all! I swear!"

"Just spit it out already," sighed Mei. "You know what could happen if you don't."

"You heard the little missy," snickered Mangetsu, "so you better get to it!"

"Seconded," chirped Kisame, offering a grin full of teeth, "and perhaps you would like to know what happens to liars?" He dragged his thumb across his neck. "We cut them up and shred them to ribbons!"

The boy was practically shaking like a leaf by then and looked to have shrunk by at least a finger or two.

"I mean… I suppose there is also something else?" he squeaked, and in spite of his current predicament, still stood to look at them straight into the eyes. "My two teammates have the two other pins of the same set, and… um… if I remember right, we also picked up a yellow pin somewhere." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I think that's all."

"I think that's satisfactory," announced Mei, to which the Iwa nin let out a sigh of relief. "Well then, thanks for the pin. We'll be going now."

She strode past them, walking away without looking back. Kisame and Mangetsu soon joined her in step, with but not before giving a last glance to the Iwa nin.

"Wait, what? That's it? No other motives? No 'I'm going to hold you hostage to use you against your friends'?" called out the boy after a moment.

That caused Mei to halt in her steps, though she didn't bother to turn to face the speaker. "Unless you're willing to direct us to your teammates, which I doubt you are, you're useless to us. We just want to find three pins of same colour and finish the first stage."

With a curt answer to reply to his question, she resumed walking forward.

"Wait a minute, please!"

Mangetsu was the one to speak up this time. "What again? Shouldn't you be rejoining your friends now?"

"That's just what I was getting at." The Iwa nin jogged to catch up with them. "Mind if I join you three for a bit?"

The incredulous look Kisame sent him was not yet enough to convey his disbelief.

 _{…He does realize you guys pounded him to the ground and then proceeded to basically just bully him into giving away an item, right? But then again, battling_ is _a way to develop kinship… Still, my point stands.}_

"You want _what_ exactly?" asked Kisame, echoing Ditto's sentiment of incredulity. "You're asking the group who just threatened to practically kill you, to… accompany you?"

"Other way around, actually," he mumbled. "Though I thought you were just joking back then. You were, right? I mean, you wouldn't _actually_ do it, right? _Right?_ " His voice had hitched by a few tones by the end and his eyes darted from head to head.

"Well…" drawled Mangetsu, "we always keep our promises, don't we, Kisa-san?"

"That's for sure," agreed Kisame, nodding wisely. "Always keep promises."

The Iwa nin laughed nervously and took a small step back. "Ahaha… you sure do, huh?" He wrung his hands behind his back. "The thing is, I wasn't exactly supposed to lose that pin to you"—he ignored the deadpan stare from Mei in favor of continuing on—"and the sensor in my team was supposed to track me down later today or early tomorrow. So unless I stay with you until that time, I'd probably be stranded here and wander around, lost, until someone finds me."

Kisame watched as Mei's eyebrows disappeared underneath her fringe. "Are you saying you have no idea how to navigate in your own land? And why should we trust you won't backstab us at the first chance you get?"

"Hey! It's not like you would… Ah, just forget it. It's a win-win situation for both of us, no? I get to rejoin my team and you get to get a chance at three other pins," pointed out the boy.

"And we could easily get rid of you if you try anything funny," added Kisame, to which Mangetsu hummed in agreement.

"There's also that, I guess."

"Then it's decided." Mei pointed to the boy. "You're coming with us for now. Temporary truce until we come to the point of our two parties trying to beat each other senseless. Agree?"

"Sure, why not."

With that resolved, they went back to their mundane hunt for the button pins.

 _{Is this how recruitment works? Overpower someone in a battle and have them either respect you or need you in some way? Because that seems somehow too easy to me.}_

"You can call me Daichi, by the way. I've already gotten your names, so you don't need to introduce yourselves."

* * *

 _Daichi_

Night had already fallen a short while ago and Daichi was starting to get restless. Where was his team now? While Mei and company weren't that bad and perfectly able to defend them and made sure he wouldn't get seriously injured, as demonstrated when a Suna team confronted them early in the day, he still preferred the company of his team over this one.

And Kisa… no, it was Kisame, wasn't it? Kisa was just a familiar name given by his friend. So that guy's sword. That was what seriously unnerved him, with its mismatched colours, its odd scarf attached to the hilt and most importantly…

That _**eye**_. That gemstone shaped like an eye, orange and red like the fires of hell with a slit black pupil in its dead center.

He shuddered at the mere thought of it. If the horrible colour combination of the tassel and its unconventional shape weren't enough, the eye-like gem incrusted in the silver hilt really took the deal. No matter where he walked and how he positioned himself, he would always feel the stare of a single eye boring at the back of his head.

Maybe it was just his paranoia speaking, seeing that there was no way a sword could actually see anything, much less have the ability to decide that his nape was the perfect spot to rest its uncanny eye on.

(At least the eye was only found on one side of the sword. Daichi wasn't sure if he could handle two eyes.)

Then again…

He sometimes caught the tallest of the team mutter a few times at the sword, too low for anyone else to understand what was said. His teammates either didn't notice or didn't care, but Daichi did. It might have been just him talking to himself, but what if that wasn't the case? What if the sword could actually understand human speech? _What if it could move on its own and cut him down when nobody was looking?!_

' _Daichi! You're being unreasonable now!'_ he chastised himself. _'There's no way a sword could do that.'_

But what if… what _if?_ What then? Of course, maybe he was a teeny bit unreasonable, but who wouldn't, when confronted with a weird blue fish guy with an even weirder sword? Who wouldn't be?

"Daichi."

Mei's voice instantly pulled him out of his thoughts, and he carefully shoved his concern about the creepy sword to the back of his mind, carefully locking the thought at double turn. If there was anything else he absolutely wanted to avoid, it was Mei's wrath.

That girl was already scary enough on her own.

"Yes?"

"We're going to set up camp here for tonight," she announced, arriving at the opening of a small cave. "There isn't much space to lie around, but it'll do for now. I'll be on first guard shift. Mangetsu will be next, then Kisame, and finally you, if there's still time."

"I guess that's reasonable."

"I do think so too."

Kisame's voice startled him and Daichi jumped back by a bit and he nearly crashed into the rocky wall behind him.

"For…! It would be nice if you didn't appear all of a sudden behind me! You gave me the scare of a lifetime!"

"And it would be nice if you had a better situational awareness and we had our three pins," replied the blue (in all its literal sense) Kiri genin. "Not everybody get what they want."

"I think it was funny," snickered the white-haired boy beside him.

"Maybe for you," grumbled Daichi, stuffing his hands into his pockets and walking into the cave.

Distantly, he could hear Mei scolding the two boys about how they shouldn't antagonize him now that they had acquired what they had needed from him.

The 'cave' was just a little more of a large cavity in the mountain, barely big enough to house all four of them and still have some space to walk around.

He sat down on the sandy ground and leant on the flat stone slab located behind him. He closed his eyes. How did this mess even happen in the first place?

" _Yeah, I've heard that that team's composed of genin fresh out of the Academy. You shouldn't have that much trouble with them; they should be easy picking,"_ rang out the voice of Michi, his teammate. _"If you're not feeling confident, just wait until they're distracted and swipe their pin."_

Easy picking, his eye! Daichi didn't even specialize in combat situations! He was mostly for scouting and support, and his teammates knew very well that he was the worse in terms of offensive in his team.

Either that Michi severely underestimated the Kiri team, or they purposely did it to use him as bait. What for, he didn't know. Maybe to lure someone out?

His team was as stereotypical as it could get. Michi, the heavy-hitter who could barely solve a simple mathematical problem, Yasu, a levelheaded and polite sensor specializing in long-range attacks, and well… then there's him, Daichi, medic in training.

Good old Daichi, here for moral support.

Daichi huffed and crossed his arms, resting his head against the stone. If only his team could just hurry up and find him.

He cracked his eye open, only to find the sword resting innocently on the opposite wall, eye jewel staring straight into his eyes.

He immediately shut his eye again. That sword would probably be staring at him for the whole—

' _No! Stop thinking about the ugly, creepy sword!'_

Daichi carefully made sure to not ever open his eyes during the night. No way was he going to do it just to see that glowing infernal eye in the darkness. Just sleep for now, and get woken up for his shift. It should be easy enough.

(He never did fall asleep, though, with the image of the eye constantly plaguing his thoughts.)

* * *

 **So this giant Monkey perched on top of our house, messing up our cables and wouldn't leave until an overgrown Chicken came by to chase it away. (Happy Lunar Year! And exams and projects are still a thing that takes up most of my time.)**

 **The plot is actually advancing now! It's also being filled with OC's because I can't find a lot of people in Kisame's age range in Iwa! And it's the Chunin Exams! And there might be introduction of canon characters in the next chapter or the one after that! Can you feel my excitement?!**

 _Kosmic Kandi_ : Thank you so much for your kind words! And man, you have no idea how absurd the plot is going to turn out later on. You all have not _a_ single idea on how _utterly ridiculous_ this story is going to turn out.

 **Happy year of the Rooster!**

 **Reviews and suggestions are always appreciated!**

 **P.S.: The poll still exists, you know? And it's going to close in March, so February's your last chance to influence my updating schedule!**


	21. Tag

I do not own Naruto, nor do I own Pokémon.

* * *

 _Mei_

Not long after sunrise, they met another team.

Iwa this time, and from its missing third member and how their unfortunate guest practically sprinted to them and threw himself onto one of the team members, it was highly likely that was Daichi's team.

While Daichi had run off to his team, Mei stayed a few steps behind, not entirely sure if it was a good idea to greet a potentially hostile team on which they had close to no information whatsoever on. It was a bad idea, that was for sure, and she was glad that Mangetsu and Kisame had enough self-restraint to not directly engage with them.

(She pretended to not notice the subtle glances her two teammates were trading with each other excitedly.)

The first of Daichi's teammate, the one listening to Daichi's chattering confusedly, had an androgynous build and a small, jagged scar running down the length of the left side of the face. Around Kisame's height and pale messy lavender hair pulled in a short ponytail. Could be male, but Mei could be wrong.

The other one was watching them passively with half-lidded eyes, though she felt that the genin was possibly staring at someone in particular. Loose dark hair all flipped to one side, and Mei had to wonder how it was possible for him to fight without getting a mouthful of hair.

Ah yes, the struggles of having long hair. She had had firsthand experience in walking out during a windy day without tying her hair up. Maybe she could make it a side goal? Being able to fight to her fullest while having her hair down?

A possibility, but not exactly her priority right now.

Mei eyed the Iwa trio thoughtfully. Neither of the two parties was openly hostile to each other—wary, yes, but not hostile—so she still had a shot at diplomacy.

Not that she minded a good brawl, but she wanted to see if she was able to come out of this peacefully. Also, time limit was still a thing, and she knew very well what could happen if they try to push their luck too far.

She took a step forward.

The reaction was almost instantaneous; Scruffy Lavender pulled out a pair or tekko kagi, Darky pulled back and reached into a side pouch, and Daichi went for the hilt of his sword. Similarly, the two boys had already drawn their own weapons and she could practically _feel_ the anticipation radiating off them.

Mei knew she could easily spring the imminent battle with a single gesture.

Too bad for them, she had (currently) no interest in any physical altercation.

Mei held both her hands up as a sign that she had no intention on starting a fight, a message that would hopefully reach them.

"I have an offer to propose." She lowered her arms just as the Iwa team did with their weapons, and with a peek behind her shoulders, so did Mangetsu and Kisame, albeit a bit begrudgingly.

"And what might it be?" Darky raised an eyebrow, arms crossing over his chest. "As far as we know, you have nothing to offer that could be in our interest."

Kisame's sword could help to track down pins more easily, but…

"Protection," she proposed instead, "amongst other things. Maybe even a temporary alliance? That might save both of us some time. Bigger search team, better the chances of finding something useful."

It wasn't much and frankly speaking, if someone offered that to her, Mei would have most probably rejected it in favour of taking what they wanted by force. Especially if the opposing party had little advantage over them in terms of manpower and skill.

Scruffy looked ready to protest, but Darky cut him off with a wave of his hand. "Save it for later. These ones look to be slightly more skilled than I had anticipated." He took a step forward, ignoring the way the boys tensed behind her. "Your offer is worth considering, but we would like our pin back to complete the blue set."

Mei smiled, maybe a tad too sharply, at the outstretched hand presented to her. "Only if you have something else in exchange, dear. If not, well…"

Darky retracted his hand, a faint frown pulling his mouth. "I see," he muttered. "We have two yellow and an orange, all three useless to us."

"So you took up the proctor's offer and were stuck with blue," concluded Mei. "But back to the actual subject. We have one orange pin and two greys," she said, taking named pins out, "so here's the proposal. We continue together towards the checkpoint, and if we can't find a yellow or orange pin by then, we fight."

Darky tilted his head slightly to the side, much like a curious bird, pensive for a moment. Finally, he let out a breath and propped a hand to his hip.

"Sounds good enough to me," agreed Darky evenly. "But we're keeping the orange and yellow pins until then."

"And we keep the blue one," responded Mei in kind. "If it's set, then it's best if we don't waste time here. Lingering here only means less time to search."

She turned on her heel and stalked off, feeling the flaps of her clothing with the movement, and waved Kisame and Mangetsu to follow.

Oh, how Mei loved dramatic exits.

"The checkpoint is the other way, if I may point out."

Drat.

* * *

 _Ditto_

Apparently, sword-Ditto was starting to become the center of attention of the other party.

 _(_ _ **Having a brightly coloured scarf wound up around a sheath can do that.**_ _— I guess out of everything, that might be the most eye-catching detail…)_

"Can I see your sword? Please?"

"No," denied Kisame once again. "And don't bank on me changing decisions."

Should he start referring to this form as a Honedge? Since Ditto was using it as the base.

Hm. Maybe he shouldn't. After all, it wasn't _exactly_ Honedge. Just… Honedge inspired, for lack of better wording.

 _(Plus, sword-Ditto has a_ way _better ring than Honedge-Ditto, no? —_ _ **And it'll be less confusing if you decide one day to go as an actual Honedge.**_ _)_

With no sight available anymore, sword-Ditto was able to quickly compensate the loss with his… radar? _(Still have no idea what to name it.)_ Unsurprisingly enough, even though hearing was still conserved, sword-Ditto rarely relied on it to perceive anything, usually preferring his sensing to it to locate objects and beings.

He wondered, how was Chip faring? It had been little over a month already.

Ditto restrained himself from releasing a sigh _(not that this body could, really)_. He really shouldn't worry that much about the ball of stress. Chip could manage himself fine, and it wasn't like there was anything he could do about it anyways, in his current situation.

One of the three unfamiliar ripples approached Big Blue, and Ditto could feel the silky, almost fragile texture of it that just _rubbed him wrong_.

"May I take a look at your sword?"

His grip on the scabbard tightened minutely as he heard the gravel crunch softly beside them.

"No," responded Kisame, yet again shooting down another attempt, terse tone betraying his previous nonchalant attitude about the subject. "You know I'll keep refusing, so why do continue?"

The one who asked simply hummed and fell into step with Big Blue. "Simply human curiosity."

Ditto blocked out whatever had ensued, focusing on spotting any anomaly in the environment. His current range stretched out to around forty meters give or take a few, and he would be lying if he said he wasn't proud of that.

The next few hours were mostly spent in relative boredom with nothing out of the ordinary popping out. With no new humans turning up and picking up no manmade chakra-emitting objects on his radar, sword-Ditto stuck with cataloguing different ripples from either the scarce vegetation or the few small animals roaming around.

If sword-Ditto had heard right, that would mean there would be a battle soon if they didn't make any progress, right? While he wasn't against the idea of it, he still wanted more time, just to see how far he could actually reach with his energy pulses, and for how long he could continuously send them out. As light as the energy cost for them, there must be a limit somewhere.

But time wasn't on their side, and…

Suddenly, a faint ripple _pinged_ on his sense.

Curious, sword-Ditto compared the ripple to the other impressions he had felt and was feeling.

 _{Big Blue,}_ sword-Ditto announced through the link, _{I think we've finally found a match! In front, to the left of Mangetsu. Something's lodged in between the two stone slabs.}_

While his partner went to rely the finding, Ditto tried to find the correct match for the possible pin, if there was any at all.

He couldn't accurately confirm it, but the closest match would be one the other party was holding.

"Orange," sighed Mangetsu, "and to say that I was really excited about the battle. But lucky you, you three get to have your butts unkicked for today."

Once again, _time_. If Ditto wasn't wrong, even if they didn't drag out the battle, they would come extremely close to the time limit and even maybe return late to the goal. Not to mention that none of them knew the exact location to return to the building Big Blue had commented that looked like a deformed almond.

"As per our deal," declared Mei, taking out a pin, "here's yours, and we don't have to fight for the set."

"Thank you." In return, the person who made Ditto feel uncomfortable handed her another pin, thus completing the orange set. "If it wouldn't be too much to ask, would you be willing to travel with us to the checkpoint since we both are heading the same way?"

There was a moment of silence _(aside from Mangetsu's grumbling and Big Blue quietly consoling him)_ before Mei hesitantly agreed.

Much to Ditto's surprise and his partner and Mangetsu's chagrin, no one had jumped in nor did anything unexpected happen.

The two teams weren't the first to return to the checkpoint, nor were they the last. They separated shortly after, Daichi's squad going to join another Iwa team while Mei decided to wait near one of the exits.

Gathered from the nearby chatter, there was still around two hours left before the deadline.

"How many teams passed?" asked Big Blue.

 _{Around… maybe two fifth of the initial count 'til now?}_ responded Ditto when no one else of the squad did.

In the end, little over half of the teams passed, and thus concluded the first stage of the exam.

* * *

 _Mangetsu_

Bromodic. Insipid. Completely and utterly _boring_.

Mangetsu had expected the first stage to be much more interesting. The only 'interesting' part was just crushing a rock clone. There had apparently been a small battle with a Suna team during the night, though he had been unfortunately away scouring then. After that, Mei opted for diplomacy and Kisame and company took care of the search-and-find part.

And now the proctor said that the next stage wouldn't start until tomorrow noon! How…!

After ridding himself of his training gear, Mangetsu let himself crash face first on one of the beds of their temporary room, provided for the time until the second stage would start. He burrowed his face into the pillow, releasing a gusty sigh.

He just wanted a bit of action after the long trip from Kiri to Iwa.

There were no training grounds available to them, and he couldn't even spar with Mei or Kisame! Because as the proctor had stated, "no physical altercations of any sorts is allowed on examination grounds in between stages unless stated," and infringing that would mean disqualification.

Mangetsu screamed into the pillow, the fabric muffling the sound.

All this inactivity was just making the itch for a good battle more irritating than ever.

The only other person in the room turned to face him, puzzled.

"Is something wrong?" Mei paused in her sorting of the various tools she had brought. Her movements were not unlike that of a needle, Mangetsu thought. Precise, efficient and elegant. Even with a mundane task such as organizing. "And please don't destroy the pillows. We would probably have to refund them if we do."

He rolled over, nearly falling off the bed, and clutched the pillow harder. "But I'm so _boooooored_ ," he whined, kicking up the covers of the adjacent bed in the process. "And I can't even ask Kisa-san about his weird sword anymore because he disappeared to nowhere!" He paused. "Actually, where _did_ he go?"

Mei turned to fully face him, some wire in her hands. "He said he went to, quote-unquote, 'explore the place a bit'. Never thought he would be the type to do that, really."

Mangetsu perked up at that. "Really? He went to walk around town? What for?"

She gave a shrug, rolled up the wire, and stored it in a small pouch. "He said it was because he was getting bored, but it felt like there was something else. Or maybe it's just because Kisame tried something new."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." She nodded absentmindedly, fiddling with something that was caught in her clothing. "He used a plural pronoun instead of singular. He said 'we wanted to go explore' and not 'I wanted to go explore'. It's been bugging me for a bit, and I only realized it after he left, and he's probably too far to find him now."

Interesting, though Mangetsu had half an idea of why. Hard to not link that back to that peculiar conversation he had overheard during the voyage to cross the sea.

"Maybe Kisa-san was also including his spooky sentient sword when he said that," speculated Mangetsu, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "He did say that they could communicate with each other, yeah? Maybe the sword was the one who suggested it."

"Maybe," she hummed. "I'll ask him when he comes back from his small excursion around Iwa. Not sure what there is interesting about a glorified pile of rocks, though."

Glorified pile of rocks, indeed. How _had_ they managed to create the buildings, exactly? While some were constructed out of stone blocks piled neatly on top of each other, others looked to have been directly carved out of the earth. Shinobi or not, someone did not just simply manage that. They definitely weren't natural geological formations, either.

"Maybe Kisa-san was curious about how the village was built? Some of the buildings and houses look like they were molded or sculpted straight from the earth, and not added on top of it."

"It does, doesn't it?" agreed Mei. "And now I wonder, can sentient-slash-enchanted-slash-cursed swords express feelings or emotions? Can they feel curious? Are they able to learn, just like humans and other living beings do? Really, I have so many questions…"

* * *

 _Shiroitsuchi_

A little before noon, Shiroitsuchi and his team found themselves back at the examination place/courtyard/empty garden/whatever. And in his humble opinion, the second stage could have started earlier and his parents could have chosen a more original name for him.

"Hiya there!" shouted Shiroitsuchi, spotting his favorite stick in the mud and sauntered towards him. "I heard you guys ran into the rookie Kiri team!"

Yasu merely twitched in response, much to his disappointment.

"…I might have underestimated them slightly," replied the sensor after a moment. "I thought you had said that they were relatively new to the shinobi world."

Had he really said that?

…He hadn't. Well, not in _those_ exact words. Maybe just insinuated it.

Although the words had been said in a neutral tone and had no heat, Shiroitsuchi still raised his hands. "They are!" he defended. "Just… unpredictable. Just a bit. And also maybe have a sensor."

"And an odd sword whose owner refuses to let us see too," added Yasu with a huff. "The sensor is most probably the taller blue-skinned one. Kisame, was it?"

"You got it right, pal! At least, I think so. Shark guy would always be the one to react first to anything. Not to mention that…"

Shiroitsuchi paused when Yasu raised a hand up. He followed his line of sight, and…

"Well, speaking of the devil!" Shiroitsuchi gave a good clap on his fellow Iwa nin's shoulder before darting off and shouting a quick "Later gator!" without bothering to look back.

Now to sneak up on the recently named Kisame and company without being noticed. He would say 'easier said than done' and then snort because he would be talking to himself, but sneaking up on any Kiri shinobi in training was already risky as it was.

Never mind the fact that the most intimidating one (who incidentally was shorter than Shiroitsuchi, and wasn't that funny? All sharp teeth, funny eyes and a predatory grin, but still shorter than him. Hah!) was also a sensor.

Shiroitsuchi ghosted past the few teams standing between them, noting idly from which village every one of them hailed from, and made note to remember their faces.

There were visibly less teams present, and if the sight wasn't enough, the noticeable drop in volume compared to the previous day indicated it.

Skirting around the field of view of the three guppies, the Iwa nin blended into what small crowd had gathered around his target team. Because for all that their sensor was good at, it seemed as though he couldn't pick up a specific signature in the midst of a crowd.

Even then, tucking in his chakra and repressing it as much as he could wouldn't do much harm.

Mindful to stay inconspicuous, he moved along with the mass until he was at two arm's length away.

Shiroitsuchi swiftly stepped forward and offered a cheery wave. "Heyo buddy-o—!"

He stopped the elbow from hitting his face at the last second and forcibly lowered it.

From what he had gathered from Yasu, that would be Mei, and the white-haired one who was glaring daggers at him (despite his glaringly short size, which made it all the funnier) would be Mangetsu.

"Oh," drawled Mei, "it's just you."

"That wasn't really nice, you know?" He grinned and let go of the offending appendage. "I don't think elbowing someone in the face is a proper greeting, pal."

She shot him a strange look. "I'm _really_ not sure if it's just a strange speech quirk of yours, but I don't think we're friends."

Shiroitsuchi put on a wounded expression. "So cold!" he exclaimed. "And we might not be friends, not yet, but I do recall our villages are allies, no? So we might see each other again when we get promoted and sent on a recon mission together." He shrugged. "Or just any other mission requiring a team from both our villages."

Just as he was about to add on how convenient that would be, a loud _honk_ blared from the center of the room.

Nearly every head in the room swiveled to see the source of the sound in an eerie synchronicity.

(Shiroitsuchi wished he would never had to see something of the sort again, because the action was just plain _creepy_. Especially from a gaggle of (mostly) prepubescent kids learning how to make flashy murders while attracting the least attention possible.)

There stood a jounin (a relative to Yusaku-sensei, if the clan markings were anything to go by) with a strange device in hand. A metallic canister with a horn of some sort attached to it.

"Pipe down and listen up!" When some located farther in the room hadn't heard and continued whispering amongst themselves, the instrument blared once again, effectively silencing the whole room this time. "I'm the proctor for the second stage."

The newly proclaimed proctor took out two large strips of cloth, one red, one brown.

Taking advantage of the fact that the Kiri team's attention was currently on the jounin, Shiroitsuchi slowly slunk away to rejoin his group. He'll go bother them some other time.

At least, that was what he had in mind until a hand shot out and latched onto his sleeve.

On the other end of the arm stood Mei, and if Shiroitsuchi didn't know better, he would have said she was smiling placidly, eyes closed and lips curved slightly upwards. As it stood, he could understand the silent 'don't move or else' from her look.

 _Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned_ , the Iwa nin had once heard an old dude say. He wasn't exactly sure what it meant, but it sounded cool and probably said that a woman—or a girl, in this situation—can have quite the temper.

Being the sensible person he was, he wisely chose to stay put.

Not that he had any other choices, really, given that Mei still had an iron grip on his forearm. He could technically just shrug off his clothing and be gone with it, but he wasn't sure if anyone would appreciate him running around half naked.

"—in summary, you only need to collect four points, and while it isn't necessary, you are not forbidden from taking extras. Kenta by the booth will call each team one by one for the sashes. Good luck."

The proctor gave a lazy salute and puffed out of the room.

…How much did Shiroitsuchi miss out on?

As he was about to go back and ask his teammates, the pull on his sleeve kept him where he was.

Ah, darn it. He almost forgot about that.

"Any reason why you continually seek us out?"

He gave Mei a discreet once over. Not angry, not annoyed—maybe just a bit, actually. Just genuine curiosity.

No harm telling them, he supposed.

He offered a grin, sharp and perhaps a bit sardonic. "You three _are_ part of the rookie teams. Part of the ones who entered during their first half year of their genin career." He waved his free hand around. "Not to be nasty or anything, but they usually tend to not last that long, considered being easy picking and whatnot."

Coming from someone who knew what he was talking about, and had firsthand experience of it. And who then witnessed it for the following exams.

The blue giant (giant for someone his age, but Shiroitsuchi could still loom easily over him, hehe) shifted, the way too long tassel of his sword swaying with the movement.

(Because as if his skin colouring wasn't weird enough, his sword's colouring was as equally strange. With the… unique colour choice for it, Shiroitsuchi wouldn't be surprised if the blade also had an unusual colour.)

"But why did you approach us on the first day then?" asked Kisame.

While he was about to formulate some half-excuse about people watching, Kenta from the booth called out "Squad Four from Kirigakure!"

Mei's eyes slid from Shiroitsuchi to the booth. "Well, this is our cue to go." The grip on his forearm loosened, and he quickly retracted his arm. "Until we meet again, Shiroi."

He blinked. "Shiroi? Not using my full name?"

"It's too much of a mouthful to pronounce."

Well, it was a start at a tentative friendship.

…And now he had to find his teammates to explain him what was the second stage.

* * *

 _Kisame_

Kenta handed them three orange sashes, neatly folded and looking like they had been washed a few hours prior.

Kisame could smell the odour of the soap emanating from them, even with the smell of rust and sweat permeating the tent.

"And remember," repeated the man for the fourth time, "tie it to the waist so that at least half an arm length of cloth is still loose, alright?"

"Thank you, and yes, we got it," responded Mei, taking the fabric and handing one to each squad member.

After exiting the booth, Squad Four headed to their usual spot beside the exit. Not only was it close to one of the way out, but few people frequented the area, for some reason.

Mangetsu raised his hand. "Could we have a small recap, Terumi-chan? Just in case I missed anything."

Mei rolled her eyes and huffed, but complied nonetheless. "Every participant has a coloured sash tied on them. One sash equals one point. The goal is to accumulate four points in total in order to pass this stage."

She brandished her own piece of tissue in front of Mangetsu's face. "The only catch is that one with the same colour as your own has a value of two points. That means that taking in the fact that just about every team here has three members, one could easily pass the stage by stealing the ones from their teammates."

"Which we won't do, since it's an obvious bait," reasoned Kisame. "To what end, though?"

"Maybe for something for the next stage?"

"Probably," agreed Mei, giving a nod. "We'll need to find twelve sashes then. Four teams total."

Hadn't Shiroitsuchi said that they weren't the youngest ones in the exams?

 _{I think Shiroi mentioned, er, 'the trio of tree huggers' were the youngest ones, so they might be your best shot for the first three points. But despite this, I still have the feeling you'll go for whoever is the closest.}_

Konoha then. While Kisame wouldn't _necessarily_ go for the closest team, Mangetsu might if Mei didn't say anything about it.

Now that he thought about it, Mangetsu was like a puppy, following Mei around and pestering her for time together. One that might go rabid at any moment and could suffocate enemies with his mass-turned-body fluid, but the similarities were still there.

"The easiest target would probably be the Konoha team Shiroitsuchi brought up last time." Kisame gestured to the general area where most said teams gathered. "Meaning one of those groups."

"So… ambush the Konoha team if possible and hit for whoever is closest after, then?" proposed Mangetsu, eyes shining.

Mei made a sound of agreement, and Kisame went with it.

Mangetsu grinned, rocking back and forth on his feet, and looking generally restless. Anxious? Impatient? Eager? Probably eager.

He wasn't the only one eager, that was for sure. The two other teammates simply had the decency to hide it better.

Soon after, all the participating genin teams were called to assemble to a nearby training ground. It was a wide expanse of rocky terrain with stones and spike-like pillars of various sizes jutting out of the ground here and there. A single pond of clear water rested at the far west end, in the shade of a hunched over tree.

The assigned proctor suddenly shot out from a lone patch of soil at the center of the field, startling a few teams that stood too close.

"The stage will be starting shortly," he announced, legs sinking midway back into the earth, "so gather to your assigned area—designed by your given number." The insufferably loud cylindrical instrument was taken out. "It'll start once I ring this. Once all four points gathered, simply exit the training ground by any means."

Kisame hummed and set a hand on the hilt of his sword. "Assigned area?"

"Kenta from the booth had whispered it to me when handing me the sashes. It's where we start the stage at," she explained breezily, walking towards the sole pond. "And lucky for us, we start under the shade of the leaves."

Kisame and Mangetsu followed suite, watching the other teams do the same.

As they reached the foot of the tree, Ditto made a sound of confusion at the back of his mind.

 _{Somehow, there are certain places imbued with more chakra? Like if they were landmarks or something… Like the tree you're just standing against. Or the square of dirt in the middle of the area. Or even just that one giant monolith in the distance that looks more like the remnant of a snapped toothpick!}_

Kisame squinted into the distance, and confirmed to himself that there was indeed a stone protrusion looking like a snapped toothpick far away. The patch of soil on which the proctor had been standing on had a team on it, and similarly with the giant stone toothpick, there was also a team standing beside it.

He spotted a cracked boulder with a Konoha team nearby.

"Hey, Ditto," he whispered, not minding too much the fact that his teammates could hear him, "do you sense something from the boulder a few paces to our right? It has a crack in the middle."

There was a moment before they replied.

 _{Yeah. Pretty strong too, actually.}_ They snickered. _{Stronger than the three humans by it, actually. You know anything about it?}_

Maybe each of these 'landmarks' signified an assigned area.

"The tree is emitting a considerable amount of chakra," he pointed out, gesturing to said tree behind them. "And it looks like every 'assigned area' has something emitting more chakra than it should be able to."

Whatever Mei was about to say died on her lips, the obnoxious blare sounding out through the training ground announcing the beginning of the second stage.

 _{I'm about 90% sure that's an air horn there. Beautiful pneumatic device used for signaling.}_

In an instant, Kisame shot towards the Konoha team by the boulder, sword unsheathed and feet barely hitting the ground with every step.

Mangetsu promptly flanked by his side while Mei followed between them, a few steps behind.

One of the Konoha genin turned just in time to deflect the swing of Kisame's blade with a senbon, causing a resounding _shing_.

He sprung to the left, narrowly avoiding getting his ear pierced by another senbon needle.

The sound of fighting broke out all around them, contrasting to the silence shared between the two teams, taking a brief moment to assess each other.

A navy bandanna with a matching trench coat, and… chewing on a senbon? That can't be healthy for his teeth… Possibly a midrange to long-range fighter. Not the best matchup for Kisame, but as long as he can close the distance between them, he should be fine.

The one facing Mei wore dark round shades and overalls, topping the all with a cap-like hitai-ate. Nothing about him stood out, save for the strange outfit.

Finally, Mangetsu's opponent was… well.

"Looks like you got yourself a strange green beast," chuckled Kisame, eyeing the remarkably thick eyebrows.

In response, all Mangetsu did was to offer an uneasy grin, eyes still trained on the shining teeth of the flamboyant green creature who struck a pose.

(…Were his teeth actually that reflective, or was it a genjutsu?)

Clad in a green sleeveless one-piece outfit and sporting a tidy bowl cut, the young genin was the last of the odd outfit trio.

 _{The one Mangetsu's facing feels… kinda weird. Maybe something to look into later?}_

Feeling the familiar rush of heat gathering behind him, Kisame reflexively dropped down low, letting the stream of fire soar above him and into the opposing team.

They managed to avoid it mostly, though much to Kisame's amusement, the one in the trench coat dropped the senbon that was hanging from his mouth in shock, and nearly impaled his foot with it.

Kisame followed through with a quick upward slash, aiming to sever the brown cloth tied around his waist.

To a great amount of surprise and annoyance, that too was deviated by a flick of a senbon, sending the blade to the side and grazing his trench coat instead.

Kisame resisted the urge to cluck his tongue. This was but the beginning, he shouldn't get riled up that fast.

Instead, he let an eager grin bloom on his face. It had been a while since he had anything challenging. Team spars didn't count, they knew each other's arsenal too well to actually land any good hits.

(And it wasn't like dishing out heavy attacks that might injure a teammate before any missions was a wise decision.)

Kisame nimbly sidestepped the small volley of senbon thrown his way, hearing them get into crossfire and the familiar sound of something being scorched.

He narrowed his eyes. Where does one even store that many senbon on himself? Some kind of storage seal painted on his body? Konoha had a tendency to spit out fuinjutsu users every few generations, some more competent than others, according to the few history books he had bothered to read.

Storage seals… he had promised to explain them to Ditto, hadn't he?

Kisame blinked, lazily swatting away the needle headed towards his face with the flat of the blade.

 _{Hey, something feels weird about—}_

He abruptly raised his free arm in front of his face, narrowly avoiding the fate of a punctured eye. Rather than striking the organ, the senbon lodged itself under his wrist.

Kisame raised an eyebrow, grin still remaining in place. "Hm?" He tilted his head slightly, catching sight of the senbon he had deflected a moment ago that was now wedged between pebbles on the ground. "I'm curious, how did it duplicate? I was certain you only threw one senbon."

"Sorry, but a magician never reveals his secrets," returned the trench coat genin with a smile of his own, twirling yet another senbon between his fingers.

Kisame huffed in amusement. Probably genjutsu to hide it. Shadow clones was also a possibility, but it was unlikely the Konoha genin had enough control to be able to duplicate the senbon in midair.

"Well then…" Kisame yanked out the senbon—smaller and thinner than the ones they usually have from Kiri, he noted—of his arm with a slight wince. A small amount of blood welled up from the puncture wound, but he paid no mind to it.

He rolled his injured wrist experimentally, keeping an eye on his opponent. Trench coat genin didn't take any offensive moves either, simply watching him carefully.

Seeing that his opponent decided to go on defense, Kisame allowed himself to take a quick look around the field.

Mei was in a stalemate, two continuous streams of fire clashing against each other, battling for dominance. A battle of chakra control and chakra reserve, it seemed. He could go help by giving a quick distraction, but Kisame doubted Mei would appreciate that.

Mangetsu… could have been in a better situation. While he was invulnerable to taijutsu with that clan technique of his, he still needed physical hands to be able to grasp for any weapons or form hand signs in order to mould chakra.

Which was rather hard for him at the moment, given the fact that the vibrant beast was much more agile and faster than him, and noticed that always striking the hands would deny Mangetsu the possibility to go on offense.

A barrage of senbon was launched at Kisame's feet, forcing him to jump backwards.

"You should keep your eyes on your opponent, big boy," rebuked the trench coat genin, wagging his finger at him and _tsked_ disapprovingly.

Kisame's lips twitched upwards.

"Then you better keep your eyes on my strikes, needle brat."

* * *

 _Genma_

Genma chewed on a senbon thoughtfully. He had often been told that it would one day damage his teeth, but it wasn't like he took the advice to heart. Chakra exist for a reason, folks. Reinforcing teeth with chakra is more useful than one could think.

He observed the Kiri nin attentively.

Looked like a kid version of a shark counterpart to the creepy snake sannin. Blatant animalistic features, kenjutsu user, weird sword, creepy smile and eyes, unproportional arm strength (he was already straining by simply parrying a few sword strikes), and if the similarities continued, probably proficient in ninjutsu to some point too.

All he knew was that letting him come into striking range spelled bad idea.

But he also needed the orange sash dangling tauntingly from the shark kid (who was most probably older than Genma) _very_ badly.

On one hand, getting close meant he could possibly be cut to ribbons. Or drowned, if the Kiri nin knew any water jutsu. On the other hand, he needed to pass this second stage, and he would look bad if he was the only one who hadn't manage to retrieve a sash.

Oh, the moral dilemma.

Genma rolled the senbon between his teeth, carefully observing his opponent's movements.

But it seemed that the choice had been taken out of his hands when the shark boy charged forwards, probably with the intent to chop off his head or something.

Genma retaliated with three chakra enhanced senbon, two of which were covered by a minor genjutsu. Two to the shoulders and one to the knee.

He had his doubts that his opponent hadn't picked up on the genjutsu, but managing to dispel and deflect it before the needles struck was another thing for someone of their caliber.

But apparently it was hard to fool a shark twice, seeing the two genjutsu-hidden senbon being batted away with a scabbard and the third one nimbly avoided with a small shift of the body.

"Your throws are fast," remarked the blue-skinned teen, "would've gotten me if I didn't see it coming." He then snickered to himself. Inside joke, probably. "They said they leave a bright trail, like the tail of a meteor." A pause. "Whatever that means."

A… trail? Meteor? And who would 'they' refer to?

Genma nearly yelped in surprise as the blade nearly cleaved him in half, having barely enough time to drop down in a roll.

While he could technically duplicate a whole bunch of senbon in midair, Genma only possessed an average chakra pool. He wasn't sure if spending a good portion of it to create the shadow clones would be a wise decision.

Unlike those cheating Uchiha and Uzumaki, Genma's chakra reserves were limited.

He had prepared an alternative for occasions like these, but…

He let out another barrage of senbon, a small satisfied smirk working its way when more than just a few needles struck the intended target.

(There was also the fact that most of them were also evaded, but better look at the positive side, right?)

Genma deflected a swipe aiming for the cloth tied around his waist and deftly executed a perfect back handspring that even Gai would be proud of in order to avoid getting impaled through the gut.

"Hey!" he yelped, adroitly landing on his feet. "I actually want"—he dropped low to avoid a clean shave—"to keep my intestinal tracks intact, thank you very much!"

Shark boy snorted, delivering another swing. "And I want a promotion. Not everybody gets what they want, trench coat."

"It's Genma," he grumbled, shooting a senbon to deviate the blade in return.

"Is that so?" The Kiri nin raised an eyebrow. "Name's Kisame. Pleasure meeting you, shooting star."

And accompanied by that was a beaming smile with teeth too sharp to be natural.

What a guy.

Genma parried another swing, this time skidding backwards from the force of the blow.

He was losing ground.

Bad. That was bad.

There was a stone wall behind him, and most likely than not, his opponent had every intention of herding him towards that very direction.

 _Well… in this case, it can't be helped._

Genma reached into his inner breast pocket and pulled out a few senbon coated in a transparent fluid, and covered half of them with a minor genjutsu.

He had originally planned to keep those in reserve for emergencies and for the final stage of the exam, but he didn't really have a choice here anymore.

"OI!" suddenly called out a voice, "KISA-SAN! SWITCH?"

Kisame looked in the direction from which the voice came from, and back at Genma.

"Looks like I'll have to cut our meeting short, so it seems." He offered a not-so apologetic smile before hollering back, "SURE!"

The Kiri nin had lowered his sword, as well as its scabbard.

 _There. Opening._

Four poison-coated and one regular senbon launched from his hand. Regular one aiming for the carotid artery, serving as distraction. Closely following behind were two poisoned ones, aiming for between the shoulders to disarm, and the final two shot for the kneecaps to incapacitate.

Strangely, the shark boy made no move to intercept any of them.

Just as the needle was about to pierce his jugular, Kisame smiled smugly and—

Instead of being met with flesh, the senbon shot through a plume of smoke, the Kiri nin with animalistic features nowhere in sight.

 _Substitution._

And in his place was the white-haired boy from earlier, sporting an all-too similar grin, with all the knife-like teeth and mouth that stretched too wide. Not to mention purple eyes.

 _Urg. Who even has purple eyes?_

"I hope you're ready to get your assed kicked," said the boy cheerily.

Just as Genma was about to retort with a snarky comment, his opponent's body unexpectedly liquefied and made a beeline towards his position.

He quickly shook himself out of his stupor and jumped out of the way just in time to avoid the two hands that shot out of the slime-like puddle. Just about at the same time, a strange fog rolled onto the field, hiding further grounds from view.

"Looks like I _mist_ ," snickered shark boy v2.0, his head poking out of the dubious puddle somewhere further away, "but don't worry, we still have some time on hand."

Genma groaned, and wondered if there was any way he could evaporate the boy.

* * *

 _Ebisu_

The fires raged on, and Ebisu was slowly losing his breath. His chakra was also steadily depleting, which surely didn't bode well for the outcome of this battle.

He had trained himself to be able to hold his breath for a long period of time, but two minutes was nearing his maximum.

His lungs started to burn, and before he could choke himself to death, he ceased spewing flames, and in half an instant, the opposing tongues of fire rushed towards him like the gaping maw of a striking serpent.

Ebisu rolled to the side hands flying through a series of hand signs, and—

" _Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!_ "

He slammed his hands on the ground and a rudimentary wall of dirt and stone shot up, just in time to stop the incoming flames from scorching him to a crisp.

The bespectacled watched in awe as the continuous stream of fire raged on around the protection of his wall, his surroundings illuminated by the orange glow. It was like watching a sunset up close, a globe of golden hue forming around him.

It was only after a few moments that the inferno died down, and Ebisu gingerly peeked out from his hiding spot, now faintly smelling like burnt earth.

There stood the fiery-headed girl, hands in a tiger seal and taking a big gulp of air.

That couldn't be good.

"Wait up!" shouted Ebisu, maybe just a tad desperately. He had other things to do aside from turning into human charcoal. "Could I ask you something first?"

Much to Ebisu's surprise, the girl did halt the technique and let her hands fall back to her side, confident that she would win no matter what. And Ebisu couldn't really blame her; after that stunt, he too would be more assured of his victory, not to mention his earth wall wouldn't be able to take another hit.

She propped up a hand onto her hip and raised an eyebrow.

"Well? We don't have all day."

Still hiding behind the meager safety his wall provided, Ebisu carefully asked, "Where do you keep all that air?"

When his opponent didn't seem to understand his question, Ebisu went to figure out another way to formulate his inquiry.

"How do you…" He waved his hands around, as if it would help him explain, "not run out of breath with a continuous fireball jutsu?"

The girl's eyes lighted up, finally understanding the goal of his question. Then she shot him a dubious look, as though saying 'are you stupid?'

"…Circular breathing?" She was enunciating her words slowly, as if talking to a young child. "Did you never learn it?"

Ebisu stared at her blankly. He knew the meaning of the words separately, but together, the term had little to no meaning to him.

"Circular… breathing?"

A look of shock and horror spread across her face at his dull response.

"Dear heavens above," she breathed out, "you really have no idea what I'm talking about."

She took a few steps towards him and seemed to be ready to break out in a sprint, but quickly aborted the motion.

Instead, she raised a hand to rest upon the back of her neck and slightly relaxed her posture.

"Say, I'll give you a proposition." When the girl was sure she had Ebisu's—who was still hiding behind his mud wall—attention, she continued. "I'll teach you circular breathing, because as a fellow fire jutsu user, it just _pains_ me to see you like this. In exchange…"

The redhead tapped a finger to her cheek with a look of contemplation.

"You will just have to give me your sash."

However, before Ebisu had the chance to say whatsoever of it, the girl immediately followed through, seeing his conflicted expression.

"Of course, after we finish that, you could always try to take it back by any means."

She extended her hand expectantly, awaiting his response.

Ebisu silently mulled over it.

The Kiri nin was willing to teach him this 'circular breathing' in exchange for his sash. He had a small idea of what it could be, and it wasn't like he couldn't ask Chouza-sensei for advice.

On the other hand, as it stood, Ebisu had to chance of beating her in his current condition. His opponent could effortlessly outlast him in battle and his chakra would start running dangerously low if they continued as they did just a moment ago.

He half-heartedly glared at the outstretched palm from behind his tinted lenses and reluctantly stepped out of the cracked earth wall.

Least Ebisu could do was stall for time, and get help from his teammates after they finished their respective fights.

From the mischievous smile she wore, he already knew asking her help wouldn't be a good idea.

He took the hand anyways.

* * *

 **(Fun fact: Genma's name comes from the constellation _Gemma_ )**

 **While cleaning out my closet for possible wormholes, I found a red button and clicked it by accident, causing a giant windstorm to come down upon me and suck me out of this dimension. (I had a shitty February, and a busy and even shittier March.)**

 **"Yeah, I could write a small fight scene," I say as I attempt to write one, and fail spectacularly.**

 **I have no idea where this second stage is going, I don't know how to write Ebisu, _someone please help me_**

 **Also, probably no chapter next month because we have a school field trip overseas, and I'm not sure if I'll have the time to work on this story.**

 **Reviews and suggestions are always appreciated!**

 **P.-S.: Poll's closed, and it looks like I'll be keeping my slow-ass updating schedule.**

 **P.-P.-S.: Story is now one year old! Woo!**


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